The Forgotten Realms
by Aura24
Summary: A group of young dragons, who against their Elders' wishes, escape their threatened home to go on a perilous journey to find a new sanctuary on the other side of the Dragon Realms. After they find a peaceful new home, they soon face new problems...
1. Chapter 1: The Warning

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Spyro and other characters from the Spyro the Dragon and the Legend of Spyro series. Some of the young dragons that are in the story are grown-up, but are baby dragons from the Year of the Dragon game.

**Author's Note:** The background is setting a mixture between the Dragon Realms and the Legend of Spyro series. I made Ami, one of the baby dragons from the Year of the Dragon game, be Spyro's little sister if that's okay.

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**The Forgotten Realms**

**Chapter 1:** **The Warning**

It was late afternoon in the other side of the Dragon Worlds. Near a mushroom-infested jungle stood a brown, grand temple. Each of its wooden doors had the face of a dragon with eyes glowing like embers and the temple itself was large enough to house hundreds of dragons. Outside of its grounds were dragons, young and old, frolicking happily in ledges and trees. Some were Artisan dragons, others were Peace Keepers, Magic Crafters, Beast Makers, and Dream Weavers, all made for different realms that were on the side of the world. Their Elders watched them carefully, keeping an eye on the young dragons as they spent their day playing in the gardens.

Near the mouth of the forest, a certain, purple dragon emerged from the shade of the trees, looking around cautiously as he slowly walked around. He glanced at the sky before looking back to someone hidden in the bushes. "I think it's safe enough now, Ami." Spyro said, turning around and facing the Dragon Temple.

A young, female voice replied from behind Spyro, "Still...something feels strange about the temple this evening..."

Spyro asked, turning back, "What is it?"

"Well, I don't know.." The voice replied, as a small blue dragon, slightly smaller than Spyro, emerged from the bushes. Her wings were purple and her horns were snow white and two, purple barrettes was wrapped around each of her horns. The little, blue Artisan called Ami continued her worries, "Something very quick. Like lightning. It looks safe enough now, I think."

"Come on, I'll race you back to the temple." Spyro smiled, as he raced off toward the temple grounds. Ami smirked and ran after her big brother through the grounds while she scurrying through a few young dragons that were playing in the gardens.

Spyro stopped to catch his breath and looked back, seeing Ami nowhere to be seen. He then saw a young, Dream Weaver dragon running by him. Her scales were silver and was a little smaller and slightly obese than Ami and her scaly underside was gold. A pink barrette was placed in between her white horns. The silver dragon stopped and turned back to Spyro, "Hi, Mister Spyro!" She greeted happily.

Spyro greeted back with a smile, "Hi, Ruby."

With a quick bound, Ruby ran back to a group of other dragons resting in the grass. Before Spyro can walk forward, Ami accidentally tackled the purple dragon forward, sending the both of them tumbling down a small hill. There was a short thud when the dragons reached the bottom and Spyro shook his head to shake away the dizziness.

Ami was sprawled beside Spyro, and when she saw the purple dragon in his dizzy state, she giggled. The little, blue dragon was about to apologize, when a cold chill ran through the blue Artisan's body and made her stop. She slowly looked to the sky and widened his eyes. "Spyro? Oh, Spyro...I know now...A terrible thing is coming..." She shuddered, her eyes glazed.

"What do you mean?" Spyro asked, turning to Ami.

Ami turned to the sky, quaking, and as she looked at the sun, images of dark threads stretched across the sky appeared in her vision, blocking the sun in eternal darkness. "The sky...it's covered in darkness..." She muttered.

"Darkness?" Spyro repeated with a slight chuckle, "Don't be silly."

As Ami continued to watch the images, she started shaking while the visions ran through the little dragon's mind.

_Darkness suddenly fell upon the Dragon Temple, coating the land in blackness. A horde of bat-like monsters fell through the skies, dropping bombs in the temple grounds as they released swarms of creatures from the blasts of fire. __The evil creatures appeared all around the temple, then started storming into the walls as they began killing the Elders and the young dragons by sight. Instantly,__ the temple, the dragons, and everything around them was destroyed in a split second by a enormous blast of purple energy created by the creatures before the images swirled away and vanished from Ami's vision..._

Ami started shaking after seeing the terrifying images, she once again saw the normal sky and environment around her again and her eyes were still wide with shock and dread. Spyro looked at his little sister and blinked, unaware of the visions she had seen.

"Ami? Are you okay?" Spyro asked, then he looked to the horizon and saw the sun sinking into the trees, "It's getting late, we should go back to the temple."

Ami instantly snapped back to reality and turned to Spyro, repeating with a frantic edge in her tone, "Back to the temple? No, no, they'll come there. Don't think they won't! We have to get everyone out of here!"

"Now stop it, Ami." Spyro said sternly.

Ami stammered, running around Spyro a bit, "We...We have to get away from here. All of us."

"Away? Don't be silly." Spyro responded, shaking his head, "They won't come. They think you're out of your mind."

"You must listen to me, Spyro." Ami urged, looking around nervously, "Something very bad is going to happen!"

Spyro replied, sighing, "All right. We might as well see Elder Lindar, but I don't think he'll like the idea." The purple dragon then turned and hurried to the temple as fast as he could with Ami close behind, as he ran past several dragons that were enjoying themselves in the evening. As Spyro ran, he spotted a small group of dragons resting on a hill not too far from the Dragon Temple. There were five dragons, including Ruby.

The first was a green, slender dragon, slightly taller than Spyro when standing on his four legs. His eyes were brown and his horns were light brown along with his scaly underbelly and his wings. By his appearance, he is a Magic Crafter dragon. His name was Coltrane.

The second was a dark blue dragon laying on his back next to Ruby, resting in the sunlight to expose his light blue underbelly to the warm rays. He was a little smaller than Coltrane, though was more slender than the other dragons. He is an Artisan dragon named Bruce.

The third was a brown dragon, a Peace Keeper dragon and was a little more obese than Ruby. His horns were darker than his light brown scales and his eyes were dark green. His name was Grayson.

The last one was a small, lime-green dragon, the second youngest of the group and also a Magic Crafter dragon. She wore a pink barrette on her head and her purple scales ran down from the back of her neck to the tip of her tail. Her eyes were light-blue while they twinkled with innocence in the sunlight. Her name was Rikki.

Spyro ran past the young group of dragons who happen to be his best friends, and as he glanced at them, he went on to the temple. Ami skidded to a halt and said urgently to the five dragons, "We have to get away from here, all of us."

"Get away?" Bruce repeated, glancing at Ami from over his shoulder.

Ami replied frantically, "Yes, before it's too late!" With a quickly leap, the little, blue dragon resumed running to the temple in a fast pace, following Spyro. Coltrane, Bruce, Ruby, Rikki, and Grayson all stood up from their resting positions and gathered, confused at Ami's strange behavior.

Coltrane asked, "Is something wrong?"

Bruce responded, "This has never happened before."

"Is it danger?" Grayson questioned.

"Come on, let's see what's happening." Bruce suggested, as he, Coltrane, Grayson, Rikki, and Ruby followed Spyro and Ami into the temple. The purple dragon and his little sister scurried through the Dragon Temple at full speed, not stopping to greet the other Elders while they ran by.

Flame, a young, red dragon, was standing guard in front of the door leading to the chamber where the lead Elder, Lindar, was resting in. The red dragon turned his head and caught sight of Spyro and Ami running toward him until the two dragons stopped in front of Flame.

"Spyro?" Flame began, looking at the purple dragon then saw Ami, "What are you guys doing here?"

Spyro replied in a serious tone, "We need to speak to Lindar, Flame." Shortly after he spoke, Grayson, Rikki, Ruby Coltrane, and Bruce stopped at the corner of the hall, looking at Spyro, Ami, and Flame from a distance.

"Really?" Flame questioned, "What's it about?"

Spyro replied, "Well, it's-"

"Flame!" a voice called out, as Spyro and Flame turned to see Elder Cosmos, lead Elder of the Magic Crafter dragons, standing near the window to water the flowers that were recently placed in the sunlight, casting a water spell on their stems as he glanced at Flame, "What do they need?"

"They want to see Elder Lindar." Flame simply replied.

Cosmos questioned, trilling the R in his word in his Magic Crafter dialect, "What for?" Ami opened her mouth to reply about the danger only to be cut off by Cosmos' rude response, calmly ordering Flame, "Send them along. Lindar is resting now." The Magic Crafter leader resumed watering the plants with his magic.

"I'll take care of it, Cosmos." Flame replied, turning back to Spyro to tell him to go back.

However, Spyro stepped forward and said firmly to his friend, "Flame, when did I ever ask to see the Elder before?"

Flame glanced back at Cosmos, then to Spyro and sighed, "Alright, fine. Wait here then." The red dragon entered the large chamber and closed the door behind him to see Lindar. Behind the door, Spyro could hear Flame asking the Elder if the purple dragon and Ami can see him. There was a brief silence before Flame opened the door and said, "Come on, then."

Spyro nodded. He and Ami went inside the chamber and Flame closed the door behind them as he walked in too. Rikki, Ruby, Grayson, Bruce and Coltrane went over to the door and listened carefully to the conversation that is about to occur inside the chamber.

A large, blue dragon laid in the center of the chamber, sitting down on all four legs to rest his muscles. He was old, but still had the strength to walk normally and use his wings for flight. Elder Lindar looked to Spyro and Ami as they approached him and bowed for a moment "Spyro. Ami. What brings you here today?" The Artisan Elder asked with a smile.

Spyro replied, glancing at Ami, "Well, my sister says that a bad threat is coming to the Dragon Temple."

"A bad threat...? Now what sort of threat is coming?" Lindar questioned, patiently.

Ami replied, "I don't know, but it's bad. It's so bad."

"Well now." Lindar answered, arching an eyebrow before he scratched the back of his neck, "What ought we to do?"

"We have to escape, all of us, right away." Ami responded, her voice sounding more urgent.

Lindar perked up and repeated with suprise, "Right away? In June? The summer time? And where will we go to?"

"Well, she had these feelings before and she's been right again and again-" Spyro began, but was interrupted.

"I shall have to consider this very carefully." Lindar said, shaking his head before looking back to Spyro and Ami, "Perhaps we should discuss this later in the end of the summer." However, Ami started shaking her head, refusing to wait for news to come from the other realms, her eyes started widening.

"No...No...We can't wait. We can't!!" The little Artisan shouted, as she turned around and ran past Flame to open the door.

Lindar spoke out calmly to Spyro, before settling back down to rest, "Well, it was good seeing you, Spyro."

Spyro nodded respectively to Lindar before he turned and raced after Ami into the halls of the temple. Flame watched the door close as Spyro left the chamber, he thought about what the purple dragon said and wondered if he was crazy or speaking the truth. After thinking about it, the red dragon exited out of Lindar's chamber...


	2. Chapter 2: The Escape

**Chapter 2: The Escape**

It was midnight in the Dragon Temple, the doors were closed and every single dragon was inside to get their sleep and prepare for the next day. However, Spyro and Ami were wide awake and are now walking quietly through the halls to get to the outside. Since no one will believe Ami of the danger, the two dragons decided to go out on their own to escape the threat along with a few others in a escape party. Suddenly, a shadow came into their path, it had the shape of a dragon as Spyro and Ami stopped in their tracks and looked at the shadow.

"Who's there?" Spyro asked softly, looking at the shadow.

A young voice replied from the shadow, "It's me."

Spyro whispered, "Coltrane?"

"No. Grayson." The shadow replied, stepping toward Spyro to reveal to be the young Peace Keeper, "Coltrane told me you were leaving the temple tonight. If any of this is true, I'd like to come along."

Soon, several more young dragons appeared from every direction of the hallways and stood around Spyro and Grayson, including Ember, Coltrane, Ruby, and Bruce.

"We like to come along too." Rikki spoke out, appearing beside Spyro.

"I don't much like the look of things." Another young dragon added, a bit suspicious.

A yellow dragon responded, "We must get everyone."

"I saw Elder Titan following me down the hall." Bruce spoke out, looking around, "It could mean the Elders are catching onto us..."

Spyro responded, "The sooner we're off, the better."

With that said, the purple dragon quickly hurried through the halls of the temple with the other young dragons following him. Quietly, they scurried through the temple to get to the front entrance that leads to the mouth of the jungle. Once they reached the door to the gardens, Spyro pushed open the door and looked around. He saw only the swampy, dark forest that surrounded the temple and no sight of the Elders.

Seeing that the coast is clear, Spyro quickly emerged from the door closely followed by six friends and the others were trailing a little behind. The purple dragon carefully led the other dragons toward the mouth of the forest before him, unaware that several figures stood on the ledges of the grounds watching the dragons. Spyro stopped in his tracks and stood on his hind legs to look back to the others that were following a few feet away from him and his friends. Suddenly, several, large dragons appeared and began making their way toward the escaping group of young dragons.

"It's the Elders! They're coming!" Spyro exclaimed, widening his eyes.

One by one, the Elders jumped down from the cliffs and ledges of the forest and stood in the path of the other young dragons, blocking their way from leaving the temple grounds. Magic Crafter leader Cosmos stood on the highest ledge, overlooking the young dragons and the other Elders. Spyro, Ami, Ember, Coltrane, Ruby, Rikki, Bruce, and Grayson were the only dragons remaining as they raced into the forest, not looking back to see if the Elders were following them.

Nestor, the lead Artisan Elder, flew down from the sky and landed in front of the young dragons, glaring down at them with anger and disappointment as he approached.

The green dragon ordered, "Little ones, go back to the temple...Now!!" Frightened by their Elder's tone, the young dragons turned around and hurried back into the temple with few of the Elders following them.

Catching glimpses of other young dragons, Cosmos went off to where Spyro and the others went.

Spyro, Ami, Ember, Coltrane, Ruby, Rikki, Bruce, and Grayson ran further away from the temple, scurrying through the swampy jungle to lose the Elders. When they reached a small clearing, a shadow of a young dragon stood in their path as if he was waiting for them. Spyro and the others stopped and gasped, fearing that they have been caught by one of the Elders.

"There aren't many left of you, huh?" The dragon said in a familiar voice, scratching the back of his head with his back foot.

"Flame." Spyro began, recognizing the vivid, red dragon, "Are you off-duty?"

Flame responded, "Off-duty? You can say that I'm not off-duty. I've left the guard. Ami, I've been thinking about what you said."

"We have to go, Flame. We're leaving to get away from a threat." Ami said, nodding.

"Leaving?" Flame repeated, "Where you guys going to?"

"We don't know exactly, but we're going." Spyro replied.

Suddenly, a large green blur jumped down from the ledges of the forest and landed in front of Spyro and his friends. The young dragons gasped out with shock when they saw Elder Cosmos appear before them with a look of anger.

"You, little ones, return to the temple at once!" Cosmos commanded, as he stood before Spyro and his friends, his eyes gleamed with anger unaware that Flame was there also.

"We don't want to." Ember replied.

Ami reasoned to Cosmos, "Something bad's coming."

"It's not good." Ruby added, peeking out from behind Ami.

However, Cosmos refused to listen to the childish nonsense and responded sternly, looking down at each of the young dragons, "You all come with me."

"Is he alone?" Coltrane whispered softly, as the rest of the young dragons were trying to figure out how to get past Cosmos and escape. Spyro stepped toward the Magic Crafter leader with a look of determination in his eyes, now protective of his friends.

"Go back, Cosmos. Now." The purple dragon warned firmly, "We don't want to fight you to do it."

By the word 'fight', Coltrane, Rikki, Ember, Bruce, Ami, Ruby, and Grayson blinked at Spyro suprisingly, knowing that they cannot take on an Elder, not to mention disrespecting him.

Cosmos growled to Spyro with anger in the edge of his voice, "It is _you_ who I have to fight some sense into." Suddenly, the Magic Crafter leader lunged at Spyro and swiped for the purple dragon's head, but Spyro gasped out and fell back, narrowly being swiped by the Elder's claws.

Before he can do anything else, Cosmos was suddenly tackled to the ground by Flame, who had leaped in to stop the Elder from committing his deed. The Magic Crafter leader was sprawled painfully on the ground and opened his eyes to see Flame standing before him. Widening his eyes with outrage and shock, he gasped out, "Flame?!"

Flame smirked, "Yeah, you know me."

Cosmos picked himself up to his feet, then nervously looked at Flame and Spyro, who were willing to fight the Magic Crafter leader. He exchanged glances until he realized Cosmos was outnumbered and the Magic Crafter leader hurried back the way he came, now ashamed and unsuccessful in bringing the young ones back to the Dragon Temple.

"He won't be long coming back with the Elders." Spyro spoke out, looking at the fleeting form of Cosmos disappear into the night. His friends slowly went on ahead to investigate their surroundings.

Flame agreed, panting, "Yeah...Well, I think I'll come with you guys." Smiling, the red dragon followed the rest of his friends leaving Spyro and Ami to look at each other, suprised at Flame's decision to come with them to find a new home.

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Near the forest mouth of a dark forest, the nine dragons rested for a few minutes to catch their breaths while Spyro, being the adventurous type, went ahead to check out his surroundings. The forest around him was giving out a haunting, creepy aura, its trees were purple due to the night and the purple light coming from all around him. The hooting cries of owl-like creatures were heard everywhere, sending slight chills into the purple dragon's spine. Only the moonlight from the sky gave little light. Spyro knew he was near the Ancient Grove.

Flame ran up to Spyro and stood beside him, saying, "Spyro, listen. The others are exhausted, they need to rest."

"He's right, Spyro." Bruce's voice spoke out from the group behind Spyro and Flame.

Spyro replied calmly to Flame, "Look, once we're beyond the Ancient Grove, we'll really be clear of the Elders, then we can rest there."

The purple dragon walked into the mouth of the forest while Flame stayed behind and glanced at the creepy, monster-infested grove. As Spyro approached the forest, Coltrane, Ember, Grayson, Rikki, Flame, Bruce, Ruby, and Ami stood behind the purple dragon, nervously looking around them.

Ember shuddered as she walked closely up to Spyro, "I've never been this far from the temple, Spyro. It looks dangerous."

At first glance, Spyro looked around and saw the trees and branches stain purple by the dark evil of the Ancient Grove, stretching above him like haunting spectres. Some of the branches were stripped bare, looking suprisingly like skeletal hands. Not showing any fear, the purple dragon walked into the Ancient Grove without hesitation. The others hesitated for a moment, but had no choice but to follow Spyro that they have come this far.

Nervously following Spyro, the other dragons stayed close behind the purple dragon, hurrying through the woods to get out faster. Ruby stopped for a moment and panted to catch her breath, then forcefully ran after her friends with her tired legs.

Ami stopped and slowly looked around, only to see a pair of red, menacing eyes looking and blinking directly at her followed by a loud creaking noise of old wood. It greatly frightened the little Artisan and forced her to run in a swift pace. She scurried under the large roots of the trees and ran toward Spyro and the others, panting. The purple dragon smiled, but widened his eyes when he saw something huge flying in the air above the Ancient Grove.

A large, bat-like creature flew above the trees in the Ancient Grove, its eyes glowing yellow and its wings flapping its noisily before it glanced to the ground and caught a glimpse of Ami. As soon as it past over her, Ami quickly leapt under the cover of the trees with her friends and brother.

Flame trailed after the group that had past by him, keeping an eye for any creature that lurk in the jungle. He looked back when he thought he heard a twig snapped behind him followed by the distant call of a bird. The red dragon cautiously looked around as he walked until he caught up with Spyro and the others. Before he can step toward them, a sudden swoosh of a creature's feet was heard as Flame turned around to something land behind him.

Two large creatures had leapt out of the bushes and landed a few feet away from Flame, snarling. They had the appearance of a wolf with purple fur covering most of the top of their bodies and their sickly-green skin was revealed on the bottom part on their legs, reptilian tail, and muzzle. Their purple, glowing eyes gleamed as each flew open their jaws to utter a blood-curtling howl to the air. They were Wild Hounds; a relative to the domesticated Death Hounds.

"Hounds!" Flame exclaimed, leaping away as one of the Wild Hounds made a lunge for him.

Spyro and Flame backed away from the Wild Hounds along with Ami, Coltrane, Bruce, Ruby, Ember, Grayson, and Rikki, seeing them advancing toward them.

"This way!" Spyro said, as he took off quickly into the woods with the others following him close behind. The Wild Hounds snarled and they gave chase after the dragons.

Spyro panted, fear and instinct brushed against his senses as he led his friends through the Ancient Grove. They rushed into a small clearing and started running alongside a purple, poisonous river which was flowing down from a small waterfall. Spyro knew he couldn't swim across the river, but he had to if he's going to loose the Wild Hounds that were after him and his friends. With a swift leap, the purple dragon leapt over the river of poison, using his wings to glide to the other side.

Flame glided after Spyro followed by Ember, Bruce, and Grayson; Coltrane carried Ami, Ruby, and Rikki on his back as he flew over the river, knowing that they are still too young to fly. The young Magic Crafter resumed running with his companions with his small passengers latching on his back.

The Wild Hounds growled when they saw the dragons glide over the river. With a quick bound, the two of them jumped high over the river of poison and landed on the other side, one of them nearly slipped in the dangerous river before chasing after the dragons with its companion.

The young dragons hurriedly ran through the forest, hearing the haunting calls of the monsters that lurk around them which increased their worry and dread.

Spyro looked ahead of him as he ran, and to his shock, he saw a dead-end. There were no openings for the dragons go through and all of them were trapped, only the spooky trees blocked their only way to escape. From the noise behind them, the Wild Hounds were gaining and there was nothing else but an old, fragile tree standing in front of the trees, cracked and delicate as if it was about to topple down any minute.

Flame swore he felt his fear and panic intensify as he wildly looked around for an opening, "Spyro, we're trapped!" He shouted, as Spyro looked to the old, fragile tree before him and narrowed his eyes.

The purple dragon then made an idea and muttered to Flame, "Not for long."

Spyro quickly charged ahead toward the weak, old tree with his head down at full speed, and to everyone's amazement, he rammed into it and caused the entire tree to come tumbling down, crashing heavily through the other trees to make a new, open path for the dragons to escape. The new path also revealed small sunlight in the far distance in front of the dragons, showing them that they were almost out of the Ancient Grove.

"Come on!" Spyro urged, as he jumped up the tree and hurriedly walked to the other side of the trees. One by one, Flame, Coltrane, Ami, Ruby, Grayson, Ember, and Bruce leapt over the broken tree trunk and slid down to the other side, landing safely.

However, Rikki slipped off from Coltrane's back and fell to the ground. She shook her head and tried to climbing the tree herself, but she slid back to the ground and even as she tried again, she couldn't reach the top. She gasped when she saw the Wild Hounds charging toward her with anticipation and snarled at the thought of having fresh dragon meat to satisfy their hunger. Rikki could only watch as the hounds drew closer and closer by the second and she cried out in terror when she saw them leap for her.

As the hounds leapt for the little Magic Crafter, Coltrane appeared and quickly snatched Rikki up the tree trunk before the Wild Hounds painfully slammed their heads on the trunk and limply fell to the ground. One of them rose up to its paws and shook its head before it glanced up to its escaped prey with a snarl.

Coltrane then carried Rikki back to the others and set her, Ami and Ruby down near Flame, he looked back still hearing the Wild Hounds behind him howl and growl angrily with rage and frustration.

Spyro glanced back and saw his friends safe and sound from danger. Ember giggled, after hearing the aggravating growls of the hounds behind her, "Those hounds weren't meant for climbing, that's for sure."

"Lucky for us, they can't." Coltrane responded, looking back, speaking while trilling the R in his words, "Otherwise, they would've been quicker."

Spyro responded, "Let's go, we're almost out of the Ancient Grove." The purple dragon turned around and hurried through the forest trailed by his companions into the unknown. Now that they have escaped the Elders, the dragons now have to fend for themselves and find a new home to settle in.


	3. Chapter 3: The Attack

**Chapter 3: Attack**

The band of nine dragons looked at the towering rocks and terrain before them; after a night from leaving the Dragon Temple, they had finally reached the mountains that were disconnecting them from the meadows that will lead them to the other side of the world to a safe, new home. It was a breathless sight. High rocks and jagged tops, brown and red from dirt and sun shot towards the light blue sky, some so high enough to nearly touch the clouds that were gliding lazily through the air.

There were distinct areas of the mountains, however, that were green and lush, covered thickly with groves of trees and bushes, providing ample cover, and, to the dragons' relief, there were many paths through the mountains that weren't too steep, making it easier for them to travel. Still, the mountains were intimidating and elevated and the rocks made the significant impression that it would take days before they could reach the summit of the mountain range.

"Does anyone know where we're going?" Bruce asked, resting on the ground to ease his aching legs. The dragons were now resting in the sunlight, some were taking a short snooze while a few of them watched the scenery around.

Ember replied reassuringly to Bruce, "Spyro does, I'm sure." Ami stood beside Ember and looked around, blinking worriedly at her surroundings and the dangers that might be lurking around.

Spyro and Flame ran ahead to check their surroundings around the mountain, scouting the area for any signs of enemies or predators nearby. They came upon a small clearing and Spyro was about to walk out into the open.

Flame looked up and widened his eyes, then quickly pulled Spyro back into the cover of the trees. The purple dragon looked at Flame, but the young, red dragon pointed to the sky and Spyro looked up and saw a large figure soaring in the air above him.

"A Dreadwing." Flame muttered, looking at the fleeting image of an enormous bat-like creature circling the skies for food.

Spyro said, spying the Dreadwing, "I thought they only appear at night."

"You don't know with Dreadwings." Flame responded.

"Then it's dangerous." Spyro responded, "It could attack us when we walk across the clearing."

Flame shook his head with a reassuring smile, "No, no. It won't pay attention to us at all. One time, I insulted a Dreadwing and it didn't even attack me. I'll show you."

The red dragon emerged from the cover of the trees and walked into the open while looking up at the Dreadwing circling the area. The large, bat-like creature glanced down and spotted Flame, then started surveying the red dragon.

"Hey, you ugly excuse for a nocturnal beast, you have a butt-ugly mom!!" Flame insulted harshly, as he expected the Dreadwing to attack him for the insult, but his reply was only a faint shriek from the Dreadwing before it flew off to the other side of the plains.

Spyro followed the creature until he could hear its wings fade away, then turned back to his friend who was still in the open.

Flame turned to Spyro, smirking triumphantly, "See, it's not interested."

Suddenly, the Dreadwing swooped down from the sky out of nowhere with an angry, ear-shattering scream, its claws outstretched, ready to claw Flame down. The red dragon looked back up to the sky in time to see the large, bat creature diving toward him, he gasped out before he threw himself to the side before the Dreadwing could pin Flame down with its claws. Frightened by the sudden attack, Flame struggled to get up and run away from the Dreadwing, but the bat-like creature was already upon the young dragon and was trying to claw him with one of its talons. Flame was doing his best to avoid the claws as he madly and desperately fought to survive.

"Flame!" Spyro yelled, then charge out of the bushes to save his friend. The purple dragon furiously blew out searing flames at the Dreadwing, causing the bat-like creature to shriek in pain and back away from Flame and Spyro. Flame rose to his feet and ran out of the enemy's shadow as Spyro attacked the bat-like creature.

The Dreadwing threw its strong wing back and knocked Spyro away so hard that the purple dragon flew back by thirty feet only to come tumbling backwards into the open field. Flame circled the Dreadwing and leapt at it sinking his claws and fangs into its body. The bat-like creature screeched and bucked Flame off its back. The red dragon sprawled on the ground and was about to attack again, only to be stopped by an ear-shattering sonar caused by the Dreadwing. Flame yelled out, feeling the pain ringing in his ears as he tried to cover his ears in agony. The bat-like creature slowly advanced toward the weaken dragon and slowly raised its clawed wing to take care of Flame in a single blow.

Before the Dreadwing could strike, a green blur tackled into the left wing of the bat creature away and it screamed in pain, knocking it a few feet away from Flame. The young, red dragon looked to see Magic Crafter, Coltrane, standing beside the Dreadwing, growling with smoke drifting from his mouth and ready to spew out flames.

The Dreadwing shook its head and looked at the two dragons, then knew it couldn't take on two at once. Spyro had just risen from his stunned state and was ready for another round of battle. The Dreadwing then had no choice, but to ascend back into the air with a few powerful flaps of its bat-like wings and fly away with an angry scream leaving the three dragons panting. The others emerged from the forest and ran over to Spyro, Flame, and Coltrane. After hearing the commotion of the fight, the dragons rushed over to their friends to see if they needed helped.

"What happened?" Ami asked, running up to Spyro and Flame.

Flame replied, panting, "A Dreadwing...nearly had me..."

"If you hadn't insulted, it wouldn't have attacked you." Spyro said, shooting a glare at the red dragon.

Coltrane stood in between Spyro and Flame and reasoned with both og them, "Now, now, chaps, no need to fight. The problem is over and the Dreadwing is gone, let's just carry on with our search."

Bruce gulped, looking at the sky, "Uh, guys, I think the Dreadwing brought back some friends..." As the blue Artisan pointed out, the Dreadwing that attacked Spyro and Flame was now joined with five more Dreadwings as their precise eyes stared down at the band of dragons. With shrieks and cries of fury, the bat-like creatures as they all started diving toward Spyro's group.

Flame muttered in growing fear, "Oh no..."

"RUN!!" Spyro shouted as he led the dragons into the woods, the screeching and crying screams of the Dreadwings following them from the skies. The band of dragons tore off towards the mountain area, hoping that the cover of the mountains would be enough to protect them.

Spyro looked back and saw one of the Dreadwings starting its descent at Ember and Ami, its sharp talons outstretched and was ready to snatch them from the ground. To the purple dragon's horror, it was gliding faster than the two dragons could run. The purple dragon bit back the urge to groan in aggravation as the Dreadwing got nearer and nearer to Ember and Ami. Spyro stopped dead in his tracks and swerved around to charge at the Dreadwing was about to snatch Ember and Ami. The purple dragon flapped his wings and valiantly charged at the Dreadwing with his horns, ramming into the creature's chest and painfully knocking it away. The large creature uttered a cry of pain before it took off back into the sky. Spyro then flew back to the group and landed in mid step, running and leading them again.

By now, the band of nine dragons were at the foot of mountains, and surprisingly, they were at a high wall of rock and sandstone with jutting outcrops and peaks of boulders, petrified dirt and sand overhead, shading all of them from the sun. The good part was that with a wall of rock and sandstone at their backs and shielding them from the top, the Dreadwings wouldn't be able to dive at them from behind or above, meaning that the only chance the Dreadwings had at ambush was directly in front of the dragons' sights.

"What do we do now?" Ember asked, hoping someone has an idea to get away from the Dreadwings.

Spyro replied, "We have to get to the other side of the mountains. It's the only way we'll loose the Dreadwings."

"I wish we were back at the Dragon Temple!" Bruce said, moaning. Suddenly, the Dreadwings lunged at the dragons from the left and right with an ear-shatter hunter cry while Spyro was trying to think of a plan to escape. The dragons quickly dodged the aerial attacks of the Dreadwings, taking cover behind the boulders as the night creatures took to the skies again. Spyro led the dragons through the rocky mountain again while dodging the relentless attacks of the Dreadwings until they reached the other side and started scurrying down until they reached the foot of the mountain.

Coltrane ran beside Spyro and said, "Spyro, I have an idea! Follow me!" The Magic Crafter sped ahead of Spyro as he lead the group into a small forest and hid.

As the Dreadwings circled back for another air strike, they looked around for the dragons, but didn't see them anywhere in sight. They only saw the trees, foliage, and rocks on the ground below. With an angry screech, the Dreadwings swerved around in the air and flew toward the distance away from the mountain and they flew off in a small mass of black wings. As they sailed into the red and slightly purple sky of sunset and night, Coltrane cautiously emerged from the bushes and foliage and looked at the forms of the Dreadwings.

Coltrane walked out of the bushes and looked at the fleeting flock of Dreadwings disappear into the distance, and when he saw that the coast was clear, he signaled his friends to emerge from their cover. One by one, Spyro, Flame, Grayson, Rikki, Ruby, Ami, Ember, and Bruce walked out of the bushes, sighing with relief as they walked ahead without any fear of being spotted by the Dreadwings.

"That was brilliant thinking, Coltrane." Spyro remarked, looking at the Magic Crafter.

Coltrane nodded, panting, "Yes, let's try to remember it, might come in handy again." With that said, the young Magic Crafter bounded after his friends while Spyro glanced at the horizon one last time before running after his companions.

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Flame spoke out, looking back to the exhausted group, "They need to rest, Spyro." After traveling through the moutains, the band of dragons were exhausted from the climb and were about to collapse from fatigue. Spyro looked ahead and spotted a strange, looking structure behind the trunks of the trees.

"There's something up ahead." Spyro said, before he flapped his wings to glide into the air and gripped his claws on the tree branches to climb to the top. The purple dragon reached the top of the trees and lifted his head from the leaves, looking to see a large, old temple a several feet before him. It was old, but still standing strong.

"A warm, friendly cave to stay, perhaps..?" Grayson asked, looking up to Spyro.

Spyro responded, shaking his head as he looked back at the shelter, "No, not a cave, it's a small temple." The purple dragon dove back into the tree and glided back down to the ground, landing near his friends, "It should cover us after we rest."

Coltrane said, walking beside Spyro, "You're beginning to sound like an Elder, Spyro. Elder Spyro."

"Elder Spyro?!" Flame repeated suprisingly, then scoffed at the thought as he and the group walked to the temple, "Hmph. If I call him Elder, that'll be the day."


	4. Chapter 4: The Deceivers

**Author's Note: **In this chapter, some of the dragons featured are the dragons that were trapped in crystal in the first Spyro game in younger form. You might recognize them by their names and appearances when you play it again.

* * *

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**Chapter 4: The Decievers**

It was a rainy day, the sky poured down heavy rain with cold drops of liquid as low rumbles of thunder echoed across the dreary air and lands. The temperature dropped noticeably and Spyro and the others were inside the temporary shelter of the small temple to get away from the rain after traveling again in the open. It gave little shelter when raindrops began to drop from the ceiling and onto the dragons' heads. Ember, Rikki, Ami, and Coltrane closely gathered together to be warmed up by their body heats while Spyro, Flame, and Bruce were on the lookout for anything that may come ther way.

"What's happening back home, I wonder?" Ruby asked, shivering in the cold, "Back when we lived in our own rooms? Warm, smooth covers...delicious meals..." Unfortunately, before the young Dream Weaver could continue on, she sneezed loudly from the cold temperature around her.

Bruce approached Spyro and said, "Spyro, we can't go on like this."

"I'm tired and I'm hungry, and I'm sore." Coltrane complained.

Spyro replied, "We can't go back, we're already out here."

"We can't do this, we can't do that." Grayson groaned, "We've been following this vision of Ami's for hours."

"It gets worse and worse the further we go..." Coltrane agreed, then turned to Spyro, "Where are we going?"

Spyro replied calmly, "It won't be much longer, then we can all rest."

"How much longer...?" Grayson questioned.

"We never should've left." Ruby muttered with regret, her head low to the ground as she laid.

Coltrane wondered, "Suppose Ami's all wrong?"

Rikki retorted, "We want to go back and find out."

"Go back?" Spyro asked suprisingly, "After all we've been through?"

"That's right, we're _going _back." Grayson repeated, as he started to walk away back to the direction where they last came from.

Flame responded sternly, stepping in front of Grayson, "Nobody's going back."

Grayson retorted, glaring at Flame, "You're afraid to go back, Flame, cause you left the guard. You're afraid that Elder Cosmos will punish you."

Ami spoke out, "But Grayson, the Dragon Temple's gone. I felt it in my bones. There's nothing to go back to."

"Oh really? That's what you say." Grayson growled, looking to Ami, "What if your place doesn't exist? What if we left for nothing?"

"I don't believe you know where you're going." Bruce growled to Spyro, glaring at him, thinking that he and his friends have come all this way from the Dragon Temple to get lost in the middle of nowhere.

However, Flame stepped in between him and Spyro, growling at Bruce, "Now you listen to me, you whining, sniveling-"

"LOOK!!" Rikki exclaimed, her head facing something outside the shelter of the tree.

Everyone turned their attention to a figure standing alone in the middle of the rain. A colorful, slender dragon stood before the young dragons, looking at them with eyes like pools of sapphire. Its scales shimmered from dark green to light green and its underbelly had the colors of the setting sun. Its blue-greenish wings were folded firmly on its back and it was slightly taller than Coltrane, making the dragon a young teen. By the looks of its appearance, the teenage dragon was obviously a Magic Crafter.

Behind him was a large temple, almost as large as the Dragon Temple, standing in the distance, Its structures were almost new and looked like it was just a made days ago.

"It looks like you've come a long way..." The mysterious Magic Crafter said to Spyro and his band of eight friends, placing his paw on his chest.

"Do you live here...?" Ember asked, looking at the colorful Magic Crafter.

The Magic Crafter simply replied, "Yes. Uh, yes, this is our temple."

Spyro spoke out, "Well, we need to stay here for a while."

"Why not, and we suppose you would?" The Magic Crafter asked, "But I don't think that there are enough of you to live comfortably on your own..."

Flame replied, standing up, "There are enough of us to protect ourselves."

"Oh, now don't get upset." The Magic Crafter responded, before he saw Flame approaching him followed by Spyro and Ruby.

Flame demanded with suspicion in his tone, "Who are you and what do you want?"

The colorful Magic Crafter replied calmly, "My name is Eldrid, and I don't want anything."

"Oh really? What about the others?" Ruby questioned, looking around for other dragons that might be around the temple.

Eldrid ignored Ruby's question and replied, "We have plenty of empty rooms, if that's what you need. Now if you'll excuse me, I hate the rain..." The colorful Magic Crafter turned around and hurried through the heavy rain, then entered the temple through its doors.

Ami murmured, feeling uncertain about Eldrid, turning away, "We have nothing to do with Eldrid or his temple."

"Well, it might be dry in there." Bruce sighed, feeling the heavy rain hitting his face.

Coltrane remarked, "He looks friendly enough."

"I say we go in for a little while." Grayson said, as the others agreed. The dragons then ran through the heavy rain and hurried into the temple to get dry, leaving Spyro with Ami under the shelter of the tree. The purple dragon looked his friends and was about to go after them, but Ami stood in his way.

Ami began, looking at Spyro, "They think I'm crazy, but you know I'm not. And still you won't listen to me..."

"Come on, Ami. It's not going to be that bad." Spyro urged, as he walked around his sister and hurried into the temple, disappearing inside. Ami stood in front of the temple and shivered, but then she realized she was alone and the little Artisan followed Spyro inside.

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Shivering from the rain, the nine dragons made their way through the maze of the warm temple and walked into a large chamber where they saw a bundle of meat placed in the center.

Eldrid stood in near a hallway, his back facing the dragons until he heard their footsteps. "Oh, it's you, is it? How nice." The colorful Magic Crafter said, looking behind his shoulder to see Spyro's approaching group, "I'm so glad you've come."

"This is rather a big temple." Rikki remarked looking around with wonder.

Eldrid responded, glancing at the meat, "Yes. H-Help yourselves to food. The dark ones place it out for us..."

Spyro repeated at the sound of the name, it made him feel cold, "The dark ones? What do you-"

"Once you've been with us for a while, you'll forget all about the bad times." Eldrid said, looking at his meat in his claws before he looked to the halls, "Life is easy here."

Spyro responded, "We wouldn't be here that long. Once we're all rested-"

"Long. Short. One never knows..." Eldrid interrupted, before walking to the other side of the chamber.

A sturdy, muscular Peace Keeper approached Spyro and his group from one of the hallways, then bowed respectively to them. He was covered in a tough, pink-purple hide with violet spots and his chest was also dark purple; small, purple frills grew along the Peace Keeper's lower jaw.

Eldrid spoke out, indicating the pink-purple Peace Keeper, "This is Halvor. He will keep you company for today. Enjoy yourselves."

"Where are all the others?" Coltrane asked, still noticing that they are only a few residents in the temple instead of lots.

Eldrid looked at Coltrane, but then turned back to the others and replied, "P-Please, help yourselves with the food. It's quite fresh and I really don't want it to be cold for you all." The colorful Magic Crafter went into the halls of the temple and along with a few others of his family. The nine dragons started eating the meat under the watchful eye of Halvor who ate with them.

"Where are they all?" Grayson asked, as he ate fresh chicken meat from the bundle of food and looked around, unaware that he and his friends were being watched by the residents of the temple from the shadows of the halls. They were also colorful Magic Crafters like Eldrid, their scales had the mixing colors of the sky and the setting sun itself.

Spyro repeated as he also ate, "Where? Try asking Eldrid."

Ami asked, not eating any of the food, "Do you think..._the dark ones_...leave this food...because they have kind hearts?"

"Well, it's not poisoned." Bruce said, as he chewed on some sheep meat.

"There's something strange...evil and twisted about this place..." Ami said, walking around, "It's like we're in a mist...and being tricked...and we're loosing our way..."

Eldrid walked out of the halls of the temple and approached the group, smiling warmly to them, "Some of us are gathering and suggesting stories. I was hoping you'll tell one."

"Well, Spyro can tell you stories about our adventures and how we had the good luck to join you..." Grayson suggested.

Eldrid whispered to Halvor, as he looked at the group, "I guess it's no harm in that..." The pink-purple Peace Keeper nodded.

Spyro glanced his friends as they expected to hear the story from him, but he turned to Coltrane and asked softly, "How about a story, Coltrane? About the ways of our Ancestors..."

Eldrid shook his head and responded, "The ancestors' ways don't really mean very much to us. It's charming as it is."

Halvor added, "And it's all a bunch of stories."

"But we always used the ways of our ancestors to give us guidance through the hard times." Bruce retorted, stepping in.

The colored Magic Crafter scoffed, "No, we need dignity, and above all, the will to accept our fate. As one of our poets fond of saying, I may quote?"

"Sure, we'd be delighted." Flame replied, as the others nodded.

Eldrid cleared his throat and began his poem, "Where are you going, stream? Far, far away. Take me with you, stream, take me with you on your dark journey. Oh ancestors, oh, take me to the far away to the hearts of life! The silence...I give you my breath...my life...the silence-"

"I had enough!" Ami shouted out angrily, as he ran around Eldrid and pushed through Halvor and Bruce to the entrance to the temple, pushing her way past through a few of the residents until she ran out of the temple.

Spyro looked at Flame and the others, "I'm terribly sorry about my sister's attitude...Excuse me." The purple dragon quickly followed his little sister outside in the daylight, seeing Ami disappear through the bushes and in the temple they were in earlier.

"Where you going?" Spyro asked, running up to his little sister.

Ami replied sheepishly, "Away. To the fields."

"By yourself?" Spyro questioned, a little suprised, "You wouldn't survive out there."

"You're closer to death than I..." Ami retorted, looking at Spyro with slight remorse.

Flame asked angrily, appearing behind Ami with look of furious fustration after following Spyro to the tree, "You're determined to ruin it for us, aren't you?!"

"No!" Ami replied, looking at Flame.

"It's me, me, me all the time!" Flame growled, then started mocking Ami while mimicking her voice, "Oooh! I'm in a mist! Everything's bad! I have a funny feeling in my tail!"

Ami tried to explain, but stuttered, "No, no, I-"

"You shut up!" Flame snarled with sharp retort, making Ami lower her head, "I'm finished with you! And after that, I'm going to make sure everyone _else is_!!"

With that uttered out, the young, red dragon raced back toward the way he came to the temple, leaving Ami to lower her head and Spyro to look at her little sister.

Suddenly, a cry of fear screamed out from where Flame went and Spyro and Ami perked up by the sound of its tone. The two dragons looked at each other for a brief moment and hurriedly raced over to where Flame went, and to their shock, they saw the red dragon trapped inside a black, transparent net that coiled around his body as he struggled to get free. The net started emitting a terrible, purple glow of its own in the daylight as intoxicating fragrance emnated from the net and started swirling around Flame, making him feel light-headed.

Flame managed, feeling his mind going numb as he struggled in the net, "Sp...Spyro! H...Help me!" His strength started seeping out his body and Flame began to grow weak and shiver. The red dragon felt numb and drowsy, as if he was floating and he groaned when he felt his brain shut down and his body betrayed every frantic scream his mind was sending.

"Flame, listen." Spyro began calmly, "You're in a net of illusion. What did they tell you in the guard? Think!" As Spyro tried to figure how to free Flame, he turned to Ami with a urgent look on his face and ordered calmly as possible, "Ami, I want to you to get the others now. Coltrane, Grayson and everyone else. Quickly!"

"Coltrane, Grayson, come quickly!" Ami cried out, running back to the temple.

At the entrance of the temple, the other dragons were waiting for Spyro and Ami to return, but when they saw the little, blue dragon running toward them, they wondered what was happening.

Ami explained worriedly and urgently, "Flame's caught in a net of illusion! We have to hurry!" Upon hearing this, her friends instantly ran over to where Spyro and Flame was said to be to help. As they disappeared into the fields, Ami stopped and noticed that Eldrid and Halvor didn't move an inch and are not even telling their comrades to go and help Flame. Ami screamed out to them, "Didn't you hear me?! Flame's in trouble!"

"There is no Flame!" Eldrid replied, turning to Halvor and started shaking his head to erase the memory of the young, red dragon, "There never was! And now he's gone!"

Ami shook her head in disbelief at what she just heard. She finally realized the lies, madness and evil behind Eldrid and his dragons' doings of kindness and hospitality...and it scared her. "You're mad...all of you!!" She shouted, before she hurried back to Spyro and the others to help Flame.

Halvor looked at Ami disappear into the bushes, he dropped his meat and stared on.

The other dragons gathered around Flame to try and figure how to help him. Spyro looked around, then asked Ami, "Where's Eldrid and the others?"

Ami replied, "They wouldn't come."

"They what?!" Coltrane gasped out with outrage, turning to Ami.

Grayson interrupted, looking at the net Flame was struggling in, "I get it. The net is just like ordinary nets. If we can cut through it, we might save Flame. Coltrane, you and I are the only ones with sharp claws."

The young Magic Crafter and the young Peace Keeper then started picking at the net, carefully not to scratch Flame while trying to cut through. They clawed through the net finally ripping it to shreds to allow Flame to be free from the influence. The young, red dragon felt like he was released from the chokehold of the net and slowly looked up to his friends with weary eyes, coughing to let the cobwebs clear away. However...Flame slowly closed his eyes and laid back down, exhaling.

Spyro said softly, nudging Flame's body, "Flame, the net's shredded. You're free."

Flame remained still and limp, his eyes closed. The dragons started trembling in icy remorse when they all noticed that Flame wasn't moving at all. Spyro approached the red dragon and asked softly, "Flame...? He isn't breathing..."

Ruby muttered with remorse, "We're too late..."

"We got you out, Flame." Spyro responded, gently shaking Flame's body, "You're free...Flame, please don't leave us..." The purple dragon almost whispered, as tears started to sparkle in his eyes.

Grayson asked sadly, "What should we do without him..?" The dragons lowered their heads and wept softly, tears streaming down their faces as they stood before the limp body of Flame.

Ami shivered, looking around, "They're everywhere...Nets of doom...all around us...Eldrid knows about them, they _all_ do!" The dragons faced the little Artisan, blinking through their tears of sorrow.

"The dark ones will come soon..." a voice spoke out, as Halvor appeared beside Bruce and looked sorrowfully at the motionless form of Flame; the pain of deception taking its toll, "They'll take Flame away..."

Bruce roared furiously with anger, through his angry crying, "Why didn't you and Eldrid come?! You could've helped!!"

"The dark ones feeds us, protects us from the carnivores..." Halvor answered mournfully, his eyes looking to the ground, " There's only one thing to fear, just one..."

Ami had closed her eyes and shivered, she opened them and looked to Spyro. "That's why they dance...and make shapes...to relief them from their fear...to hide from the truth...Oh, ancestors above..." The little Artisan sobbed, lowering her head as tears streamed down her face.

Spyro approached Halvor with a look of rage,"You knew about the nets and you didn't warn us."

"When a dragon is taken, we never speak his name again..." Halvor answered.

Spyro demanded, his voice more harsh than before, "Why didn't you warn us?!"

Halvor replied, "If the net took you, we live one day longer..."

"_I'll kill them all..._" a familiar voice muttered with anger, as everyone turned to see Flame rising to his feet, coughing and sputtering from the suffocation and relieving himself from the numbness that lingered in his mind. He was alive.

"Flame!!" The dragons exclaimed with joy and relief, gathering around the red dragon with great happiness.

"You're alright!" Ruby cheered happily, running and jumping around them.

Coltrane sighed deeply, "We thought you were a goner."

"Leave him alone." Grayson spoke out, "Let him rest."

Flame retorted, taking deep breaths before he looked at his friends, "I don't have to rest...Not until we have a score to settle with that...no good Eldrid! Come on!"

Nodding, the nine dragons ran back to the temple where Eldrid and his dragons were. The decieving Magic Crafter was laying in the grass in the sunlight along with his companions, pretending all is well in their home.

A loud, battle cry roared out as Spyro, Flame, and the rest of their friends accompanied by Halvor charged toward the dragons of the temple. Eldrid instantly rose up to his feet and got into a battle stance along with his allies, ready to fight with the nine band of dragons.

Eldrid warned, "Go away...unless you want to fight! Hm? Hm?? Hm?!"

"You don't know how..." Flame growled, approaching Eldrid until he stood face to face with the colorful Magic Crafter, "You've forgotten all the abilites and powers our ancestors ever gave us."

Eldrid furiously lunged at Flame, but the red dragon easily sidestepped out of the way and headbutted right into the Magic Crafter's side, painfully knocking Eldrid a few feet away from him. The other Magic Crafters hurried went back inside their temple, not wanting to fight and knew they have forgotten how.

Spyro approached the injured Eldrid and said calmly, "Leave this place. You need the freedom of the world. You can relearn the ways of our ancestors."

However, Eldrid shook his head and replied coldly, backing away from Spyro to the entrance to the temple, "The dragon ancestors are a lie...The dark ones takes care of us. We don't want to leave...we don't want your freedom."

"The dark ones will get you if you don't leave..." Spyro responded, "You don't have to surrender to them..."

Eldrid crowed, before he stepped into the darkness of the temple, "They won't get me...maybe others, but never _me_!! _HAHAHA AHAHAHAAA!!_" The colorful Magic Crafter cackled maniacally, his voice sending chills down the dragons' spine as he disappeared back into the temple of deception, mirages, and illusions.

Spyro commanded, "Run. We have to get away from here!" The purple dragon turned around and ran to the fields with his friends close behind him.

As they ran, Flame warned loudly, "Stay in the open and away from the cover, that's where the nets are!"

Halvor stood in the open and watched the band of dragons disappear into the distance of the fields. The young Peace Keeper looked back to his home, the traitorous and lying temple of deceptions and couldn't shake off the guilt for what he did along with the other dragons. As he looked back to where Spyro and the others were headed, Halvor remembered the purple dragon's words as he stared on...

_"You don't have to surrender to the dark ones..."_

Meanwhile, a couple of animal-like creatures slowly approached the ripped net Flame was held captive in. One of them, a large ape-like creature, narrowed its eyes and uttered an unhumane shriek as the smaller creatures walk to the net and disposed of it. The large ape, seemingly the leader, started putting up another black net and setting it in the same spot the old one was...

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"I just need...to catch my breath." Flame heaved, laying on the ground as he allowed his aching legs to collaspe. He and his friends were now far away from the temple to rest from their long sprint.

Few moments later, Halvor appeared from the fields and ran toward Spyro, stopping in front of him as he panted from the run. "T-Take me with you." The Peace Keeper pleaded, panting as he looked at Spyro.

Flame growled, showing distrust to Halvor, "You lied to us...Why should we do anything for you?"

"We have to work hard to survive, we don't live an easy life out in the open." Spyro responded to Halvor in a serious tone.

Halvor responded, looking back to the way he came, "There is no life in the Temple of the Black Nets...Please??" The young Peace Keeper looked to Spyro with pleading eyes and was on the brink of tears from the deception he had caused in his past life. Spyro looked at Halvor, then glanced at Flame, Coltrane, Rikki, Ami, and the rest of his friends to see them nod with small smiles.

"You can come with us..." Spyro said softly, nodding with compassion, his eyes twinking with kindness. Halvor widened his eyes and slowly smiled. The purple dragon turned to his little sister, "What do we do now, Ami?"

Ami ran to the fields and stood atop of a small hill, looking at the distance ahead where there were lush, rolling hills and green valleys in every direction. The little, blue dragon replied, as the others appeared beside her to look at the horizon, "Continue on...Look...that's where we have to be...that's the place where we have to get to..."


	5. Chapter 5: The Sanctuary

**Chapter 5: The Sanctuary**

It was late afternoon in the open landscapes, the young dragons had stopped after they found a brick arch that had appeared from out of nowhere, as if it was welcoming them. Inside of it, was a picture of another world with lush, rolling hills and green valleys in every direction.

Spyro looked at the arch and sniffed at it for a moment before turning to Ami, saying, "Let me get this straight, Ami...You want us to go through...this portal?"

Ami replied anxiously, "Yes!"

Cautiously, Spyro approached the portal and looked at it for a moment before he stepped into the portal with hesitation; it rippled like water as the purple dragon disappeared through it. The other dragons widened their eyes with shock, some took glances at each other. One by one, the young dragons disappeared into the portal until none of them were left in the fields and the portal disappeared into nothingness after they went through.

The next thing they knew, the dragons found themselves in another place very different from the one they came from. The sun was still in the sky, shining its warm rays down on the new visitors. Spyro looked and saw a very tall hill, he then took off toward it, determined to climb up the hill to see what world they were in. The other dragons closely followed Spyro, running and hurrying up the grassy hill eager to see the view. However, Ruby was slowing down and stopped at the middle of the hill to catch her breath.

"Come on, Ruby!" Bruce encouraged, looking back at the little Dream Weaver.

Ruby looked up to Bruce and resumed running up the hill while ignoring her aching paws. As the dragons continued running up the hill, Coltrane was the first to reach the very top, due to being the fastest of the group. He stood up on his hind legs and looked around at the glorious view he was seeing from the top.

"Come and look!" The Magic Crafter hollered happily with a smile, seeing something remarkable atop the hill, "You can see the whole world!"

As the others reached the top, they all gasped with wonder when they saw the world before their very eyes. It was a world made entirely out of green meadows. Castle far and wide were scattered around this realm, accompanied by the trees, rivers, and the waterfalls. It was truly a glorious world to live in.

Spyro began, smiling while looking at the wonderful view of their new home, "This is where we'll start again."

"But what is this place?" Halvor asked, turning to his friends.

"This must be Artisans..." Bruce murmured, looking closely at the rolling hills and small castles, then he realized with understanding, "Our birthplace, Spyro! Remember the stories Elder Lateef told us back at the temple? This must be where our Artisan ancestors were before long ago. This must be!"

"Oh, ancestors above!" Coltrane praised with joy and wonder, "They made it all for us!"

Spyro smiled, as he watched the fantastic view from where he was standing along with his friends, "Our ancestors may have made it, but Ami found it..."

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"Hey, guys, look at this!" Ember exclaimed, pointing a pink paw to large structure in the distance. The dragons started approaching a large temple that stood powerfully in the highest hill they were on earlier.

Rikki gawked, looking up, "Gee, this temple is huge."

"It's big enough to house everyone." Spyro said, observing the old temple, "Looks old though."

Ember reassured, "Don't worry, if we clean the temple, it would be as good as new and we'll have a home in there."

"Let's have a look inside, shall we, chaps?" Coltrane asked, before he eagerly bounded into the temple. As he approached the entrance to the temple, the door automatically opened up for him and the the Magic Crafter went inside. The others followed Coltrane into the foyer of the temple and looked around inside. They splitted up separately and individually to cover most of the temple grounds in order to explore.

Ami and Rikki entered a large, circular room, but stopped and gawked with awe when they saw a large statue of a dragon standing proudly in the center of the room. Its wings were almost wrapped around its hulking body as the statue stood proudly and its eyes shimmered yellow as if it was alive.

"That's a huge statue. I wonder who it is." Ami wondered with awe, before she and Rikki raced around the statue to the door it was facing. The litte dragons went through the door and found themselves outside again as they hurried to the edge of the balcony and saw another glorous view of the Artisan world. Ami and Rikki smiled wildly as they looked at the view, laughing happily.

"This temple even has a library!" Bruce exclaimed aloud, after looking inside an extremely room with endless shelves of books from top to bottom in the center of the room to the sides of it. The library was magnificent beyond repair, its narrow, long windows gave plenty of sunlight to give Bruce a chance to see a spiral of stairs curled to another floor of the library where more and more books were housed. Before long, Bruce turned and went to another room to explore.

Spyro and Halvor went through a certain door and noticed they were in the temple's gardens. Several beautiful wild flowers grew alongside the grassy sections of the temple, still growing strong from the sunlight and the water supporting the plants around the temple from the waterfall. Spyro walked around and explored the garden with a smile. He never knew that this place can house a lot of different plants and herbs. The purple dragon also noticed a cluster of gems that were around inside the temple were also in the gardens, shimmering in a mixture of red, blue and white. Spyro didn't know what they are, but he could've sworn he had seen them before.

After exploring through various rooms of the temple, Flame went inside a large chamber with three doors connecting to other rooms. The young, red dragon fell his gaze upon a circular green pool that laid in the center of the room and approached it. "What's this for?" He asked, as the other dragons entered the same room and they all approached the strange pool.

Spyro commented as he looked into the pool, "Looks kind of ancient. Must've been around when our ancestors were still alive."

"Well, we can't drink from this." Bruce said, noticing that a see-through covering was coating the top of the green pool from anyone who might touch it.

Ami approached the green pool and peered deep into it, after a few moments, the young Artisan slowly widened her eyes in dread. She stuttered, "S-Spyro..I see it..the sky..it's covered in darkness..." The green surface of the pool was starting to replace itself with faint images until they became clear; the young dragons gawked as they looked into the pool and saw the images.

_Slowly, the sky that filled the air with peace and tranquility above the Dragon Temple suddenly turned into a cloak of darkness that stretched throughout the land. Hundreds of baboon-like creatures stormed into the temple, killing the unfortunate that stood in their way. The Elders fought to protect the young, but were easily overpowered by the dark forces and were killed instantly. Dreadwings filled the skies mounted by the baboons, dropping endless dark spheres to the ground to release more baboon creatures to attack and overrun the temple. __As the madness raged on through the night, a large, slender silhouette flew around the skies above the temple, screeching out an unholy, bloodcurtling roar before it inhaled and blew out searing, devastating flames in every direction of the the Dragon Temple..._

The images slowly dissipated back into a swirling, green pool leaving the young dragons to shiver and tremble in fear. Flame questioned, breaking the short silence, "W-Was that real? Is it really the truth?"

Ami spoke out, trembling, "That's what I saw before we left the temple. The fear..the madness.."

Halvor questioned, "What kind of pool is that? Some kind of magical one?"

"We're here now.." Spyro said, looking at his friends, "Whether or not, the temple is gone, we're here in Artisans. Our new home."

Coltrane responded, "I try to ignore the fact that the Dragon Temple's gone..But those images now stole my hopes away."

Ruby murmured, "I hoped the nightmares we've been having might help us ignore the vision."

"Speaking of dreams..." Grayson began, before angrily turning to Ruby, "Ruby, why don't you try making dreams for us for once?! You're a Dream Weaver so why don't you make some?!"

Ruby had a look of hurt in her eyes as she looked up at Grayson with a look of loathing and sadness. Without a word, the little Dream Weaver spun around and hurriedly stalked out of the room alone and disappeared.

Ember sadly looked at the fleeting form of Ruby before she along with the others glared angrily at the Peace Keeper. The pink dragon growled, "Oh very nice, Grayson. _Very_ thoughtful."

Grayson then realized what he had done and did nothing but nod his head in slight remorse.

Rikki spoke to her friends, backing away to the door, "Uh, I'll go out and see the flowers." The little Magic Crafter turned and ran out of the room, the door closing behind her. The other dragons had looked at Rikki before looking back each other, still shocked and shakened by the images they had seen.

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It was late evening outside of the Artisan world, the sun was starting to set in the horizon to let the moon take its role in the skies. Several baboon-like creatures stood in the fields outside of the Artisan world, they were facing a couple of hound-like creatures who serve their ape masters, awaiting their orders like trained canines. Their features were hidden in shadow.

The lead baboon ordered to the beasts with sharp intent, "Find any dragon you can find and destroy them. We want those guys wiped out for our Master."

Each of the hounds howled and growled with anticipation before they ran off in different directions to search for their new prey. One of the beasts, the largest, snarled eagerly as it bounded into the fields while following the scent of dragon that was nearby. It stopped near an old tree after following the scent and continued on.

After wandering around aimlessly following the scent of dragons, the beast noticed the scent was leading to more endless fields causing it to snarl with aggravation. Before it could turn around, the the hound yelped in suprise when it saw the portal that lead to the Artisans' home opened up before its very eyes. The beast sniffed at the portal, instantly smelling a fresh dragon scent flowing out from the other side of it, much to the hound's immediate pleasure and anticipation. With a wicked smirk, the hound quickly leapt into the portal to Artisans before the archway closed behind it and disappeared. Shortly after that, the beast found itself in another realm and saw the endless hills of the countryside and distant ornate castles.

In the sunlight, the beast's features were finally revealed. It had the same appearance of the Wild Hounds that attacked Spyro and the others while they traveled through the Ancient Grove, but it was more tamed. However, it had dark blue fur that completely covered its body, but its forehead to the back of its neck was covered by an old, brown cloth; its back, legs, and reptilian tail remained visible. The beast's eyes glowed yellow, glowing with evil and hate.

It was a Death Hound; a relative to the Wild Hound that reside in the Ancient Grove. It closed its eyes and sniffed the air in its new surroundings, concentrating on finding a scent. The hound turned his head and sniffed again until he recaptured the familiar scent and muttered in a low, growling voice, "Dragons..."

The Death Hound lowered his body to the tall grass, beginning to stalk, as he began following the scent that might lead him to his prey.

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Ruby happened to be outside of the Artisan Temple in the meadows, still upset about Grayson yelling at her for not creating any sweet dreams for him and his friends during their journey to Artsans. She muttered to herself with remorse, "I can't create dreams yet. I'm still too young. I don't even know how to keep 'em."

The little Dream Weaver then stiffened with fright when she heard a growl nearby. She quietly crept through the tall grass and peek out into the open only to gasp in fear when she saw something fearful. The Death Hound had walked into view stopped in front of Ruby while focusing on sniffing the air for any dragons that are nearby for him to kill. He was unaware of the Dream Weaver's presence and it wasn't long before he caught a familiar scent.

"Mmm...Dragon..." The Death Hound growled hungrily, before he started walking to the source of the scent as he beared a wicked, crooked grin.

Once the Death Hound was out of hearing range, Ruby cautiously emerged out of the tall grass and quickly ran back to the temple as fast as she could. She called out urgently, knowing that there's a predator around, "Spyro!"

Meanwhile, Rikki was also alone outside in the Artisan realm. However, she was far in the open and was unaware of the Death Hound lurking about. The little Magic Crafter was frolicking in an endless field of flowers to enjoy herself, ignoring the fact that the Dragon Temple might be destroyed. She giggled happily as she stood and stared at a butterfly that landed on a flower in front of her.

As Rikki looked at the butterfly, she heard a hurt and weary voice calling out from around her, _"Flame...Where are you..."_

Frightened and startled, Rikki sat up to her paws and slowly looked around for the source of the where the voice came from. She widened her eyes in terror, unaware of the Death Hound emerging from the grass right behind her, rearing up on his back legs to towered over the little Magic Crafter and already poising to seize her.

"Time for a meal, dragon." The hound snarled with a toohy grin, saliva was already dripping from his jaws at the thought of sinking his teeth into Rikki.

Rikki looked back and saw the Death Hound towering over her. As she braced herself for the incoming pain and before the hound could seize the little Magic Crafter, the carnivore was suddenly and painfully tackled to the side as Flame brutally rammed directly into the hound's gut, sending the red dragon and the hound flying a few feet away from Rikki.

Though slightly injured, Flame shook his head and stood back up to his feet, standing his ground against the Death Hound. The hound recovered from the tackle and stood back on his paws to glare at Flame. Snarling, he started to advance towards the red dragon, but he was painfully flung to the ground as Grayson appeared and did a swift head-butt into the Death Hound's left flank. The young Peace keeper also glared at the hound, waiting for another attack.

The Death Hound angrily picked himself up to his paws and started to advance towards Grayson, averting his attention away from Flame as the look of murder still gleamed in his eyes. Flame quickly took the opportunity to charge and head-butt directly into right flank of the Death Hound with all of his might followed immediately with a hot blast of fire on the hound's body.

With a yelp of pain, the singed and smoking Death Hound was sent flying painfully into the air in a low arc only to come tumbling down the hill below and crashing at the bottom where he desperately rolled in the grass until his sizzling body came to a stop. Shortly after that, Flame and Grayson stood at the top of the hill and angrily looked down at the injured Death Hound at the foot of the hill. Rikki slowly stood beside them, shakened.

Flame panted for a moment from the fight. "You alright, Rikki?" He asked, looking to the little Magic Crafter as he panted.

Rikki slowly nodded through her shakened state, as she, Flame, and Grayson watched the glimpsing form of the Death Hound bounding across the plains away from the dragons, small trails of smoke still lingered behind him until he disappeared into the distance...

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Back at the Artisan Temple, Spyro stood in the foyer awaiting for his friends' return to see what Ruby was worrying about earlier. The purple dragon then saw Flame, Grayson, and Rikki approaching him and walked up to them, asking, "What happened?"

"A Death Hound...nearly got Rikki." Grayson explained, panting, "Ruby warned us about it and we saved Rikki from becoming hound food."

Flame asked, hoping for an answer, "How did that monster get here anyway? Could it be the portal? If it is, then we don't know if more of those hounds will come."

Spyro responded sternly, "And now we know there's a Death Hound in Artisans. That's what we should be worrying about." The purple dragon turned and walked away to the others leaving Flame and Grayson to stay with Rikki.

"Don't go off on your own _anymore_." Flame said to Rikki, as he walked away with Grayson to the temple. Rikki stood there for a moment before she started shivering while glancing back at the hills.

Flame stopped and noticed this, then he walked back to Rikki and reassured, "Don't worry. Don't let a rotten old Death Hound scare you up."

Rikki shivered, "There's more than that, Flame. I heard a voice in the winds calling your name."

"There are no other dragons here but us." Flame responded.

Rikki nodded, "I know...It could've just been just the wind. Maybe..." The little Magic Crafter shook away the thought and walked back to where Spyro and the others are with Flame.

Unknown to Spyro, Flame, and the others, a pair of yellow eyes watched the dragons entering the temple from the cover of the tall grass in the hills. The Death Hound had now found the refuge where the dragons he had encountered before resides, planning his next move.

"Tonight's the night." He growled sadistically, his yellow eyes gleaming evilly before he backed away to the hills unnoticed...

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Later that night, the dragons were resting outside the temple to have some fresh air for their new freedom. Spyro was sleeping close to Ami while Ember, Rikki, and Ruby slept together in a warm bundle. Halvor, Bruce, Coltrance, Grayson, and Flame stayed apart from each other to have their own space to sleep. The crickets and other distant noctornal animals made their calls known as they prepare to spend their night foraging in Artisans.

However, tonight seemed to be the perfect oppurtunity for a certain, beastial figure to strike.

After planning an attack, the Death Hound appeared from the tall grass of the rolling hills, looking at the sleeping dragons from a distance. A wicked smile stretched out on his muzzle when he noticed that the dragons were sleeping soundly and knew it would be the perfect opportunity to attack and at least kill two of them.

_"Flame...answer me..." _The weary voice whispered again, slightly catching the hound's attention as he turned his head to the fields.

The Death Hound ignored the voice from around him and quietly approached the Artisan Temple where the dragons were resting in front of. He began making his way towards Rikki, his jaws watering at the thought of sinking his teeth into her neck.

Upon hearing soft movement, Ruby creaked open her eyes for a moment and instantly caught sight of the Death Hound standing over Rikki, widening her eyes. She gasped with fright, "DEATH HOUND!!"

The little Dream Weaver had screeched loudly, as she rose up; her voice was loud enough to wake the whole group of dragons.

Immediately, Flame forcefully lifted his head and opened his eyes from his rest, spotting the Death Hound in his sights.

The Death Hound uttered a snarl, surprised at the sudden alarm as he slightly widened his eyes.

Flame bellowed out a furious war cry and hurled himself at the Death Hound, tackling the beast away from the other dragons and sending both of them rolling backwards to the hills in a tangle of paws, legs, and tails. The Death Hound snarled ferociously at Flame as the red dragon stood in front of him, but turned his attention away from him when Spryo, Coltrane, Halvor, Grayson, and Bruce quickly stood alongside Flame, glaring and growling at the hound to join the attack. Smoke was drifting from their mouths, threatening to breathe out their flames at the enemy.

Not being stupid, the Death Hound turned around and fled back into cover of the fields, knowing he was greatly outnumbered.

Flame then commanded, still glaring at the fleeing hound, "Pull back to the temple!" He and the other male dragons moved away to the entrance of the temple until they were completely inside, their eyes still facing the dark hills, just in case the Death Hound tries another attempt to attack them.

"One by one, I'll get you, dragons." The Death Hound's voice snarled maliciously from the darkness of the hills, his tone showing his true intent, "_One by one..._"

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Later in the morning, inside in one of the many large rooms, the young dragons were trying to figure how to deal with the Death Hound who will try to attack them again. Some were using tactics on fighting and driving the hound out of Artisans, but Spyro remarked that the hound will probably be back for them again even if the others drive it away.

As new ideas keep flooding in, Rikki called out to the group from the other side of the room, "Come look at this!" The little Magic Crafter was standing in front of a hole a bit large around Spyro's size in the walls of the temple, sniffing at it. Rikki turned to Spyro as he and others approached her and asked, "Do you suppose it goes somewhere?"

Spyro answered, "Let's see." The purple dragon put his head inside the tunnel and looked around. He shouted inside, "Helloooo!" And his voice bounced off the walls and echoed down the tunnel before Spyro backed out, "It's narrow and rocky, and from the echo, it goes on forever and I can feel fresh air coming from it."

"So it must come out somewhere." Ami responded.

Halvor spoke out, "Well, I heard stories of some tunnels that lead to the other side of the world with a portal inside. We had one back in the temple of the black nets but we had to seal it because it might attract monsters."

"Not much use to us if you can't turn around in it." Coltrane said, looking inside the tunnel to see the portal, shimmering in a blue glow before backing out.

Spyro replied with a smile, "It might do us a lot of good. I think I know how to tackle that hound..." The purple dragon turned back to the tunnel and let out a sly smile only to make Coltrane look back into it.

After following Spyro, the group of dragons were in the foyer of the large temple with the purple dragon discussing his new plan to get rid of the Death Hound.

Spyro explained, "If we can get the Death Hound to go down the rock tunnel, we can seal it behind him."

"Yeah, he'll come up somewhere far away hopefully to never to return." Flame spoke, "But how do we get him in?"

"I'll get him to chase me." Spyro replied, "You'll be waiting outside ready to seal up the tunnel."

Grayson spoke out, "I think someone should point out the obvious flaw. You'll be sealed in there_ too_, Spyro."

Spyro responded grimly, his eyes glancing the ground, "I know, but if I don't do it, the hound will kill us all sooner or later. There's really no choice."

The young dragons sadly looked at Spyro, knowing that he was their best friend ever since they were hatchlings back at the temple. However, Ruby walked up to Spyro and said, "Spyro...Follow me, I want to show you something."

The little Dream Weaver hurriedly ran through the halls of the temple with Spyro following her leaving the others outside. Soon, the two dragons were back at the entrance to the rock tunnel.

"You watch." Ruby said, before she entered the tunnel with Spyro watching her and soon disappeared into the depths, leaving the purple dragon to wait for her to come out.

Fortunately, the little Dream Weaver squeezed herself through a crack that lead to a part of the tunnel to the temple and she walked toward Spyro as she tapped him. The purple dragon turned to Ruby and widened his eyes with surprise.

"Good trick, huh?" Ruby giggled.

In the foyer, the young dragons were still wallowing about Spyro leading the Death Hound into the rock tunnel to sacrifice himself for their safety.

"I don't have to be sacrified." Spyro reassured, smiling, walking up to the others with Ruby, "Ruby's going to lead the hound into the tunnel."

"What?!" Ember said, shocked.

"There's an escape hole, just the right size for her." Spyro explained, "It leads back to the temple."

"And are you sure this plan would work, Spyro?" Bruce questioned, "Putting Ruby in harm's way?"

Spyro answered calmly with a small smile, "I'm positive. Trust on this..."

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Later that night, the moon was full and the stars were seen in the sky twinkling as the crickets were chirping happily. Near the temple's entrance, Ruby cautiously peeked out and looked around for the Death Hound that might attack. After a few moments of waiting, the little Dream Weaver finally spotted the persistent Death Hound walk into view, sneaking toward the temple to try another attempt to kill the dragons.

"Dog-breath!" Ruby taunted loudly, as she ran back inside the temple.

The Death Hound approached the entrance to the temple and smirked evilly before he went inside and made his way through the hallways. He stopped near the fountain and looked around, not knowing that Ruby had hidden herself behind a column so the hound wouldn't find her.

"Now dragon..." The Death Hound began, and was about to turn back to the entrance to the temple when Ruby jumped out from behind the column and appeared into view, then ran away. The dark carnivore saw the little Dream Weaver and quickly chased after her, but saw Ruby scurry into the rock tunnel.

The Death Hound muttered happily, "Weaver mouthful now...dragon later." He forged a wicked grin before he followed Ruby into the tunnel.

Grayson looked at the scene from behind the corner and saw the Death Hound walk completely into the tunnel for Ruby; he quickly screeched out his call. Immediately, Spyro, Coltrane, and Flame emerged from the tall grass of the hills and hurriedly ran into the temple where the tunnel is to seal the Death Hound inside.

The Death Hound continued to walk through the tunnel until he stopped and kneeled down to look ahead. He noticed it was too dark for him to see and began to backing his way out.

Ruby stopped and looked back, seeing the Death Hound backing away to the tunnel's entrance. "Dog-breath!" She taunted again, her voice echoing throughout the tunnel.

Enraged by the insult, the Death Hound growled viciously and turned his head back to the tunnel in front of him before he started running through it to get to Ruby. When he finally saw her, the hound quickly lunged at the little Dream Weaver, but Ruby quickly went through a hole, narrowly being pinned by the Death Hound behind her. She looked back at the hound, seeing him snarling at her with enraged fury. The Death Hound lifted his head from the small crack, still glaring at Ruby, but stopped when he heard movement from behind him.

As the Death Hound turned around, he saw the entrance to the tunnel being completely sealed one by one by large rocks. Spyro, Coltrane, Flame, and Grayson shoved the rocks into the tunnel entrance until they lodged it tight to keep the hound from escaping and entering their temple ever again. Moments later, howls and yelps of distress muffled from behind the rocks as the Death Hound was pulled helplessly into the portal that was deep within the tunnel and was sent to the other side of the Dragon Realms.

Ruby emerged from the hole and walked toward the dragons. "Whew! That was pretty scary." She sighed, shuddering.

Spyro remarked happily, "You were wonderful, Ruby!"

"That should keep that hound out of Artisans." Flame smirked victoriously, as the others chatted about their victory and started walking out of the room to enjoy themselves.

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Later that night, the young dragons were venturing through the other side of their new temple to see new rooms, exploring the hallways where thorns and old roots grew along the top. As they made their way through the other side, Spyro stopped in his tracks when he heard something nearby, the others stopped behind.

_"Flame!_" The voice called out loudly, frightening the young dragons, "_Where...are...you...?" _

Upon hearing the voice calling his name, Flame started shaking and trembling in fear before he turned around and hid behind Bruce. "It's Death..." He muttered in growing fear.

Spyro turned to Flame and hissed, "Don't talk like that, you'll scare the others."

"We go by the ways of death. When he calls you, you have to go." Flame retorted, walking out from behind Bruce and started walking to the voice.

"Stay where you are." Spyro whispered, as he stood beside the quivering Flame and asked whoever is calling his name, "W-Who's there?"

"All dead!" a voice croaked out, as a pair of large paws latched onto the top of the hedge and a large, green creature pulled itself over it, "All gone!"

The creature leaned forward and fell down from the hedge through the thorns, landing smoothly in front of Spyro and Flame. It had the appearance of a dragon, but its wings were shredded and ripped to prevent it from flying for the rest of its life. Spyro, Flame, and Ami looked at the dragon for a moment before Flame recognized it.

"It's Elder Cosmos!" He gasped out with shock, before he ran to the injured Magic Crafter Elder and stood in front of him, "Cosmos, it's me, Flame!"

Cosmos weakly glanced up at the young red dragon and the others that stood around him. He wheezed softly, "I've found you. I've found you..." The Magic Crafter elder turned to Ami, "I remember you...You're the one that saw it coming...We should've all left when we had the chance..."

"Did anyone else get out?" Ami asked.

Comsos replied wearily, "Elder Ignitus...he's safe...Left him in another realm. The Dragon Temple's gone! Destroyed...we're all that's left."

Spyro reassured, "Easy now, Cosmos, you're safe now. You're with us."

"I tried to find you...I wandered for days..." Cosmos continued, rising up, "The Dark Master's dark forces wouldn't let us go..they ripped my wings...ripped them...I tried to find you..." The Magic Crafter Elder slowly slumped to the floor of the temple, his eyes slowly closed as he breathed rasply from his exhaustion and fatigue.

Flame repeated blankly, "The Dark Master...? What's he talking about? Cosmos...?"

"Let him be. He needs to rest." Spyro calmly said.

"I saw it all in my head, Spyro." Ami spoke out, lowering her head, "I felt the fear, but part of me thought I was wrong. The Dragon Temple's gone and we're all that's left. What should we do, Spyro?"

Spyro replied softly, looking to the night sky, "Like our ancestors did before us, we go on, Ami..."


	6. Chapter 6: The Dark Forces

**Chapter 6: The Dark Forces**

Inside one of the many empty sleeping quarters, the Magic Crafter elder, Cosmos, was resting in his bed after traveling to find Spyro and the others. However, he was sleeping uneasily as nightmares filled Cosmos' mind, completely vulnerable while uttering weak groans. The door opened up in the sleeping quarters as Ami walked in to check on Cosmos, but noticed he was having a bad dream. The little Artisan walked up to Cosmos and reassured to him softly, "It's alright, Cosmos. You're safe at Artisans."

Cosmos gasped and woke up from his sleep after hearing Ami's voice and panted softly, he turned to the little Artisan and slowly smiled, "Oh, Ami, it's you. We got to go back for Ignitus."

"Until you're better." Ami answered, before she turned and headed for the door to leave Cosmos to rest; the Magic Crafter elder laid back down to rest his energy. Outside, Ami walked out of the temple and approached Rikki, Coltrane, Grayson, and Bruce with a smile. "Morning, everyone." She greeted happily, as she walked by.

Rikki gushed happily, "Lovely day, isn't it, Ami?"

However, Grayson moaned sleepily and aggravatingly while feeling grumpy and difficult after helping the others carry Cosmos to the sleeping quarters. He was obviously not in the good mood.

Coltrane noticed Grayson and chuckled, "Grayson's not much of a morning dragon, are you dear boy?"

Spyro and Flame stood at the edge of the hill while watching Ruby chasing down a helpless sheep that had wandered in front of the Artisan Temple. The two dragons then smiled when they saw the little Dream Weaver knocked the bleeting sheep senseless away with her small horns, sending it bouncing and sprawling across the grass before leaping at it to end its life.

Spyro sighed sadly, lowering his head a bit, "I still can't believe the Dragon Temple is gone. Cosmos was lucky to escape."

Flame responded, "Yeah, we have you and Ami to thank for making us leave."

"Yes, her vision saved us all." Spyro said, looking back to the temple to see Ami approaching him and Flame.

Flame asked, "How's Cosmos?"

"Better." Ami replied, smiling, "He wants to go back for Ignitus."

Flame grinned to Spyro, "You see? That's an captain of the guard for you. Whoever these...dark forces are, I want to find out more about them. We have to ready for anything like that Death Hound we fought yesterday."

"But these dark forces might have followed Cosmos near the portal." Spyro retorted sternly, We can't risk it."

Flame growled, as he walked away from Spyro and toward the hills, "I'm going and that's that."

Spyro sighed at his friend's arrogance before he walked past Ami and entered the temple. As Ami watched Flame disappear, she felt a cold chill run through her scales and muttered before she went inside the temple with the others, "Be careful, Flame..."

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Outisde of the Artisans realm, in the middle of the fields, Flame crawled close to the grass to avoid being seen by anyone. In the distance, a group of baboons stood at the mouth of a forest, conversing with one another. The young, red dragon quietly walked into the tall grass for cover and stalked toward the baboons until he reached the very front, spying on the mysterious primates.

A large baboon, seemingly the leader, looked around and muttered, "I lost track of him. If the dragon is nearby, he's a crafty one." The small baboons around him chattered and yelled, eager to find a dragon to capture as their leader turned to them, "Spread out and look for any sign of him. We all know what Cynder wants."

The baboons obediently dispersed and scattered in the nearby fields, once they were gone, Flame lifted his head from the cover of the tall grass. The red dragon smiled deviously and quietly followed the dark forces to wherever they were headed.

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Back in the Artisan Temple, Spyro walked into the chamber which contained the green, circular pool and approached it. The purple dragon peered into the pool to see if any images will appear like the other day. As he peered closer, Spyro was startled when he heard the door opened up behind him and he looked behind him to see Cosmos limping toward him. The purple dragon said, "Cosmos, you should rest. You're in no condition to walk."

Cosmos stated, standing beside Spyro, "I may be injured, young dragon, but I can still walk."

"What is this pool, Cosmos? Ami said she saw images in it, then we all did." Spyro questioned curiously.

Cosmos answered, "This is the Pool of Visions, young Spyro. Certain dragons have the ability to see visions, the thoughts, memories, and dreams of others. Ignitus is one such dragon, and maybe Ami is too."

"Ami saw the images; we all did." Spyro said, then changed the subject, "You know about this world, don't you?"

Cosmos replied, closing his eyes, "Yes. In this realm, there are portals leading to different parts of the Artisans world. There is Stone Hill, Town Square, Sunny Flight, and Dark Hollow. And I can sense Ignitus...in Dark Hollow, a part that is always night and frozen in time. We have to go for him."

Spyro responded, "Until you're better, Cosmos." The Magic Crafter elder sighed, as he heaved and sat down on the floor to allow his aching muscles to rest and regain their strength.

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Outside of Artisans, the dark forces still searched for the dragons, but found no luck. Flame poked his head out of the tall grass and sniffed the air for a moment, as he kept quiet. The leader groaned with aggravation, "Nothing! We can't go back to Cynder with nothing."

Flame peeked out from the tall grass and spied the dark forces from a safe distance, slightly sniffing the air.

The small baboons around their leader, chattering and yelling, and the baboon leader smirked evilly, "Don't worry, we'll find the dragons and trail them back to their hiding place and then...we'll _destroy them._"

Flame gasped softly with shock when he heard this and started backing his way into the cover of the tall grass. However, he accidentally scared a crow out of hiding as it flew into the air, cawing out in alarm. The baboons looked at the bird and looked to where it came from, then spotted Flame altogether as the baboon leader shouted, "There! In the woods!"

Realizing that he had been seen, Flame quickly turned and fled into the woods with the dark forces trailing behind him. The young, red dragon ran through the woods as fast as he could, panting as he didn't look back to the dark forces. As he scurried, Flame emerged out from the fores with a leap and scurried into the open when he heard the baboon leader ordered to his group, "Get him!"

Flame hurried toward the edge of a small cliff where a river was running, he stopped and turned to a pair of baboons who were charging at him. As they leapt for him, the young, red dragon quickly ran beneath them as the small baboons accidentaly plummeted toward the river below and splashed into the water. The baboon leader and the rest of his group stopped at the edge of the cliff, then turned and saw Flame jumped down from a pair of rocks to get to the shore, "There he is!"

Flame hurried through the shore of the river and spotted large rock standing in the middle of the river. The red dragon ran to edge of the shore and jumped for the rock, successfully landing on top of it before he jumped off and landed at the edge of another cliff that will lead him to safety. Flame dug his back paws into the dirt of the cliff and managed to pull himself up to solid ground, then he ran away to safety. The dark forces stood at the shore and watched as Flame ran away to the fields.

The baboon leader glared at his comrades shouted harshly, "What are you waiting for?! After him!!"

One of the baboons obediently jumped on the rock, but slipped on the wet surfaceand fell into the raging river. The small baboon yelled out as he was carried away with the strong current; his comrades then rushed to chase him down, leaving the baboon leader to stand at the shore. He glared up to where Flame disappeared to and growled with aggravation before he went with the others to help him comrade...

* * *

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The young dragons were out and about around the temple, lying in the sun or either running and playing tag. Spyro stood amoungst some of his friends in the shade of the temple, looking at the glorious view of Artisans. He then caught sight of a familiar red blur racing through the fields and toward the Artisan Temple. Flame slowly approached his friends after running all the way back from the outside world, slightly exhausted.

"Flame?" Spyro said, walking up to the red dragon, "What is it?"

Flame replied, panting as the other dragons gathered around him, "These dark forces aren't what you think, Spyro. They consider all outsiders a threat and won't stop until they killed us all. They want to discover the location of the temple and _wipe us out._"

The other young dragons exchanged glances at each other before turning back to Flame. "Are you sure, Flame? Why would they want that?" Spyro asked.

Flame replied, "Those were their own words, Spyro. I need good runners." He turned to three of his friends and called them out by name, "Coltrane, Grayson, Ruby, you'll do just fine."

"Alright, Flame, but be careful." Spyro warned, as he turned back to the temple and walked inside as the door opened for him.

The young, red dragon announced, as the other dragons went inside the temple, leaving him with Ruby, Grayson, and Coltrane, "There's no time to loose. We need to find the dark forces before they find us. We going to have to take action through tactics. Let's go." Flame, Coltrane, and Grayson turned and headed for the hills, leaving Ruby puzzled.

"Action?" She repeated, as she followed her three friends through the hills toward the portal, "Like _real_ action?"

Outside of the Artisan realm, Flame, Coltrane, Ruby, and Grayson were hidden beneath the tall grass for covered. Flame stopped and sniffed the air, he didn't smell anything and whispered to his three comrades, "Let's move." With that, the dragons raced through the fields and disappeared into the distance.

A few moments after Flame and his friends disappeared, the dark forces appeared and stood where the dragons were. The baboon leader looked down and saw a fresh trail of dragon paws leading towards the hills, he smirked evilly, "They're not far. Move!" The dark forces quickly followed the tracks, hoping it would lead them to the dragons that made them.

Flame, Coltrane, Grayson, and Ruby stopped at a nearby field to rest for the moment. Flame stood on his back feet and sniffed the air when he caught a familiar scent coming his way, and it was getting stronger. "What is it, Flame?" Grayson asked.

The young, red dragon stopped sniffing and muttered grimly as he glared, "The dark forces.."

"What? We're on their trail?" Coltrane asked.

Flame answered, "No, I think they're trailing us. For some time..."

"Then, how are we going to get back to Artisans?" Ruby asked.

The young, red dragon responded, "That's exactly what they want. We have to lure them away from the portal until we're sure we lost them. Stay close."

Cautiously, the dragons began making their way through the open fields, stay together as they tried to move fast. As soon as the dragons setted out again, the dark forces stood atop the hills as the baboon leader looked around and instantly spotted the dragons in the distance. "There!" He shouted, as he and his group charged toward the dragons.

Flame, Grayson, Coltrane, and Ruby stopped and turned around, to their horror, they saw the dark forces running towards them at full speed.

Flame exclaimed, "Evasive maneuvers!" Obediently, the dragons splitted up and scattered through the fields to get away. The dark forces also splitted up to catch the dragons, some were scattered individually to gain advantage.

Grayson glanced over his shoulder and saw a small baboon chasing after him. The young Peace Keeper smirked and noticed a cluster of rocks ahead before he jumped into a hole in between a pair of boulder and safely jumped out on the other side. The small baboon tried to follow Grayson, but as he jumped into the hole, he got stuck in between the rocks.

Coltrane was desperately trying to lose a pair of small baboons, and as a way to get away, the Magic Crafter zigzagged in front of them when they jumped for him, only for the baboons to hit each other and fall back to the ground, moaning in pain.

"This way!" Flame announced from atop of a hill, as he, Grayson, and Coltrane ran through the fields and hurried towards a cave that will hopefully help them lose the dark forces. Ruby, however, was unaware of where Flame and the others went and ran to the opposite direction toward the distant fields. The three dragons had entered the cave and hurried deep into it, but stopped when they saw only a dead-end in their way.

Flame was trying to think of a way to get away, but noticed someone was missing. "Wait, where's Ruby?" He asked.

Grayson replied, whispering, "I thought she was right behind me."

"Go back!" Flame ordered, but as he, Coltrane, and Grayson were about to run out of the cave, the dark forces appeared outside, chattering and yelling eagerly as they approached the cave to capture the dragons.

Coltrane asked helplessly, "What do we do now?" As if fate had other plans, Ruby had dashed in front of the dark forces and hurried back into the fields.

"Get her!" The baboon leader commanded, as he and his group chased after Ruby through the fields and the hills.

Flame, Grayson, and Coltrane cautiously emerged at the cave and witnessed the scene. The young, red dragon gasped, "By ancestors, she's leading them away from us and the portal! Now's our chance. Coltrane, Grayson, you two run back to Artisans as fast as you can."

"What about Ruby?" Coltrane asked, worried about the little Dream Weaver.

Flame reassured, "I'll get her. Just go." Nodding, Grayson adn Coltrane ran back to where the portal laid as Flame scurried to where the dark forces and Ruby were.

Ruby raced across the fields while glancing over her shoulders, but suddenly stopped when a baboon tried to lunge for her only for him to land in front of the little Dream Weaver. Ruby looked at the baboon and resumed running as she stopped to catch her breath. As she turned around, the little Dream Weaver gasped when the leader of the dark forces growled down at her. Ruby turned to run, but found herself facing more baboons as they surrounded her, leaving the little Dream Weaver, helpless and scared. "Dark forces...everywhere." She panted with dread.

Flame stood atop the hill and saw Ruby being surrounded by the dark forces, as they drew closer and closer to her. With smoke drifting out of his nostrils, Flame was prepared to breathe out flames as he valiantly charged toward the dark forces in an attempt to save Ruby. As the baboon leader was about to do something drastic to Ruby, a sudden fireball blasted him from the sky as he was engulfed in flames and desperately tried to put them out.

High above the air, the fleeting forms of Spyro, Halvor, and Ember soared across the sky above the dark forces before they blew out several fireballs down upon the baboons, causing them scatter away and leaving Ruby. Flame ran up to Ruby and they both ran through the fields to get away from the dark forces. When the baboons tried to follow, Spyro swooped down from the sky and tackled some away followed by Halvor and Bruce.

Spyro whacked the baboon in front of him with his horns and tail before he thrusted the primate into the air and he jumped up to his eye level. The purple dragon then started delivering a combo on the unfortunate baboon, sending a blow with his leg, horns, wings, and ending it with a swift headbutt, painfully sending the baboon into several others.

Halvor roared as he grabbed one of the baboons with his teeth and threw him away from him. When he noticed the baboons charging at him, the Peace Keeper turned and slammed his heavy tail against the baboons, sending them flying several feet in the air and onto the heavy ground.

Flame stopped in his tracks and looked back to the battle, standing next to Ruby as she stopped to catch her breath. Ember flew down and landed in front of Flame and Ruby, walking up to them. "Can't miss on all the action." The young, red dragon smirked, then turned to Ember and instructed, "Ember, take Ruby and head back to Artisans."

The pink dragon nodded, "Come on, Ruby." She and Ruby then hurried back to the portal that lead back to Artisans, leaving Flame to run back to the battle.

The baboon leader watched Spyro and Halvor kill every last one of his comrades. Growling, he pulled out a dynamite and lit it as the fuse started sparkling. The large baboon was about to throw the dynamite at the dragons, but stopped when he noticed something red charging at him. Flame uttered a war cry as he blew out searing flames at the baboon leader, engulfing him once again in flames. As the raged on, the large baboon uttered a dying moan before he exploded into a burst of light. The young, red dragon stared as he witnessed the baboon's demise, then looked back to see Spyro and Halvor approach him, also exhausted.

Halvor panted, "Whoa, I haven't fought like that since...well, forever!"

"See? I told you." Flame wheezed, 'They're just as dangerous as I imagined."

Spyro panted, "Don't worry, we took out the ones that saw us. We're safe."

"Uh, guys...?" Halvor stuttered, looking to the sky as the others followed his gaze. High above the clouds, a slender silhouette flew gracefully through the air toward the group of dragons. Spyro looked closely at its features as he gazed up to the silhouette.

It was a large, black dragon. White horns lined up from the back of its chin until it stopped underneath its long horns as a pair of large, red and black flapping noisily in the air, slightly battered with holes. Its eyes were piercingly green with a hint of evil and malign in each of them. A silver band was halfway around her neck, four were around her ankles, and another was wrapped around its tail. Its tail lashed about in the air, ending with a silver syche. As Spyro looked at the dragon's features, he widened his eyes in growing dread when he recognized that it was the same dragon that had caused the destruction of the Dragon Temple in the Pool of Visions.

"RUN!!" Spyro yelled out, as he and the other dragons began bolting through the fields to get to the portal.

The large, black dragon just stared evilly at the young dragons' attempt to escape, but shrieked out when it saw a portal open up for the young dragons as they jumped through it one by one. Screeching out with fury, the large, black dragon quickly dove toward the young dragons.

After he went through the portal, Spyro stopped and turned back to the portal, seeing the large, black dragon approach him closer and closer to him. But, with a flash of white light, the portal vanished right before the black dragon struck the ground it stood, causing a small crater to form on the ground. The dragon's eyes were now filled with rage, knowing that it lost the dragons as it threw its head to the sky and screeched out a bellow of vengance into the air...

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Panting, Spyro still looked at the spot where the portal once stood. The other dragons began making their way up the hill toward the Artisan Temple, one of them stopped to check back on the purple dragon.

"Spyro, are you alright, chap?" Coltrane asked.

Spyro looked up to the Magic Crafter, still panting, before he walked up the hill and stood beside Coltrane. "Yeah, but..." The purple dragon breathed, glancing back to the portal with a look of worry and confusion, "There was something in her eyes..."


	7. Chapter 7: The Raid

**Chapter 7: The Raid**

A few days later, after the encounter with the dark forces, Spyro and the other males were gathered in the Pool of Visions room to discuss their next move about the black dragon that tried to attack them. The purple dragon told the Magic Crafter elder, Cosmos, about the black dragon and wanted to know about him or her. Cosmos muttered grimly, slightly shaking his head, "I see...so Cynder is still searching for the rest of the dragons that escaped the temple's destruction."

"Cynder?" Flame repeated, "Is that her name?"

Spyro asked, "Is she the one responsible for the attack on the Dragon Temple?"

"Yes...but it isn't her fault." Cosmos answered, "She was taken by the dark forces as an egg long after some of you were still eggs yourselves and was corrupted by the Dark Master's powers; raised by them and forced to do his bidding. Cynder had eventually grown into an adult in such a short time and she has grown powerful by the day. "

Flame growled, "Whoever the Dark Master is, he's starting to get on my nerves already. I'd say we find him and take him on ourselves."

"Easier than done, by the sound of it." Coltrane remarked, looking to Flame.

Grayson moaned, "Better not done at all, if you ask me. Who needs that monster coming after us?"

Rikki muttered, "It twists my tail, imagine being corrupted by the Dark Master."

"If Cynder find the Artisans home before we're up to strength, then you won't have to." Flame responded, looking at the little Magic Crafter.

Spyro said, looking to his friends, "Then we'll find Cynder later before _she _finds us..."

* * *

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Later that morning, Flame was venturing on the far side of Artisans along with the other male dragons. The young, red dragon walked near a patch of tall grass, but stopped and listened when he heard something nearby. A loud squawk screamed out from behind Flame as the red dragon yelled out and bolted away in fright and revealed a red-orange bird that laid behind him in a patch of tall grass. It moaned weakly as it plopped its head on the grass. It was a bird with beautiful gold and red plumage with a fiery crest on its forehead, its feathers were made of flames and its tail feathers had all the colors of the rainbow. A pair of sky blue eyes gleamed from the firebird before it collapsed back onto the grass, moaning.

The young dragons cautiously looked at the strange, firebird that laid on the grass, and to their suprise, the flames that served as its feathers didn't make the grass catch fire. Spyro spoke out, "I've never seen any like it."

"It must some kind of a bird." Bruce added, studying the creature from a distance.

Coltrane stated, looking at the firebird, "I believe it's a phoenix."

"Are you alright?" Spyro asked, approaching the firebird. As he did, the young phoenix raised its head and screeched out, making Spyro back away a bit before the firebird settled down. The phoenix lifted its head again and spoke in broken English in a female voice, "I...I get up pretty soon."

"What happened to you?" Coltrane asked.

The young phoenix replied, "Stupid Apes jumped me. Primates..."

Grayson muttered, rolling his eyes, "We know them."

Spyro walked up to the firebird and continued, "We'll help you."

"Go away." The phoenix warned, as she rose up to her feet and looked at her fiery wing, "Wing no good, but I walk pretty good." The firebrid took a step forward, but the pain on her leg erupted painfully as she collasped back to the grass, she looked up to Spyro and asked, "Is long way?"

"Where you come from?" Spyro asked, in a more understandable language to the phoenix.

The young phoenix replied, as she rose up to her feet, "From Beast Makers home. Flarea come from Beast Makers." The firebird, called Flarea, started walking up the hill that the Artisan Temple laid, assisted by the young dragons of Artisans.

* * *

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"Ancestors above, why, Spyro?!" Flame asked the purple dragon, shocked. He and Spyro were on the other side of the Artisan Temple, chatting about trying to find more dragons to join them while Flarea perched on the remains of an old castle near them, resting as she yawned.

Spyro answered to Flame, "Unless we find more dragons to join us, we won't last. It's as simple as that. There's no other else to find them, unless you feel like going back to the _Temple of the Black Nets_."

Flame lowered his head with slight remorse and muttered, remembering the incident, "I...I don't want to."

Flarea smirked at the conversation and spoke out, "Me know where you can find them, saw fort outside of Artisans with stupid Apes near big forest. They got dragons trapped there."

"Really...?" Spyro and Flame uttered, turning to Flarea.

"Yeah," Flarea replied, nodding, "Apes there prepare for something. Me don't know."

Spyro thought about it and decided, speaking out, "Alright. I'll get them out."

Inside one of the many sleeping quarters, Ami was resting soundly in her bed, dreaming about the good memories about her friends from the Dragon Temple. Spyro entered Ami's sleeping quarters, seeing the little Artisan resting soundly against a bundle of covers to keep her warm and comfy. The purple dragon asked softly, "Ami, you awake?"

The little Artisan opened her eyes and yawned sleepily, "I was enjoying a nice dream, if you don't mind."

Spyro walked up to his little sister and nudged her, "You can dream anytime. Come on, we got work to do."

Outside, Ruby appeared from the corner of the hallways running hurriedly through the corridors, and as Spyro walked out of Ami's room, Ruby bumped into the purple dragon sending them tumbling forward. The little Dream Weaver spoke to the purple dragon, after recovering, "Sorry, Spyro, I was just going outside to play with Rikki and the excercise made me hungry."

"How about an adventure instead?" Spyro asked with a smile.

Ruby replied excitedly, "Oh yes, please, Spyro! But...can we eat something on the way?" Spyro and Ami ran toward the corridors of the Artisan Temple closely followed by the little Dream Weaver. Once they reached the entrance to the temple, the three dragons walked past a few of his friends until they reached the foot of the hills. Flarea was nearby and watched the dragons from where she sat.

"Go ahead and eat Ruby. I can hear your stomach from here." Spyro smiled, as he watched Ruby run over and chase after a helpless sheep. Before long, the little Dream Weaver blasted small flames and incinerated the sheep into fried meat, which Ruby happily started eating. Spyro turned to Ami and said, "We're just going to a fortress outside of Artisans to rescue the dragons."

Ami asked, "What's this about going to a fortress?"

Ruby had listened to the conversation after eating her fill, then walked over to Spyro. "How have you forgotten about the..." She began, looking around before she whispered to Spyro, "...Apes?"

Spyro whispered back, kneeling down to Ruby's eye level, "No, I haven't forgotten about the Apes...or the Death Hounds they have."

"They're hounds too?" Ruby asked, feeling a little scared, "I know all about them."

The purple dragon said, "We're going to rescue the dragons. I can't do it alone."

"No, I suppose not." Ruby responded, looking at Spyro.

Spyro smiled, "You'll be our lookout, Ruby, to warn us if the dogs or the Apes are coming. It's an important job."

Ruby smiled, feeling a bit confident, "A most important job."

"Time to move on." Spyro responded, then turned to Flarea who was perched on the grass, "Tell the others that we'll back soon and we'll celebrate with new members." The young phoenix nodded and walked back to the Artisan Temple, leaving Spyro, Ami, and Ruby to run off into the hills to where the portal that lead to the outside world rested to begin their adventure to bring back a few dragons to Artisans.

* * *

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Outside of the Artisan home, Spyro, Ami, and Ruby crept through the tall grass of the fields to stay hidden as they moved toward a large structure several feet ahead of them. The purple dragon emerged from the grass and noticed a fortress with its gate left open, as the three dragons cautiously entered the fortress and stopped, looking around. "Ready?" Spyro asked Ruby and Ami, looking back to the little dragons.

Ruby felt uneasy, but she replied, "Uh, yes, Spyro. Ready."

"Me too." Ami responded, "But I still think it's too dangerous."

After exploring the sections of the fortress, Spyro, Ami, and Ruby finally came across a large fort and stood behind a couple of iron debris for cover.

"That's the place." Spyro spoke out, as he, Ami, and Ruby looked at the large fort that contained imprisoned dragons against their will, "Looks deserted."

Ruby looked around and spotted several, familiar hounds behind an iron fence; the Death Hounds. However, they were a little smaller than the one that found its way into Artisans and was a little taller than Spyro. "What about the Death Hounds?" The little Dream Weaver asked worriedly.

Spyro looked at the Death Hounds behind the iron fence and noticed all of them were laying down, snoring. "They're asleep. Nothing to worry." He replied, looking at the beasts that were caged behind the iron fence before looking back to the fort.

Ami said, "Still...let's try to be extra careful."

"Now, follow me, across the yard and into the fort." Spyro instructed, before he ran as quietly as he can through the fortress with Ami and Ruby trailing behind him. The three dragons soon reached the door of the fort and the purple dragon looked around.

"All clear." Spyro announced softly, breaking the silence.

"Use your nose." Ami warned, after smelling a familiar scent, "I smelled a Dreadwing."

Spyro answered, looking around, "I did too, but that doesn't mean anything. It could be old." The purple dragon turned to Ruby and instructed, "Stay here, Ruby. Keep a watch while Ami and I are inside."

As Spyro and Ami entered the fort, Ruby peeked in and responded worriedly, "Yes, but if the Dreadwing should come? Not just the smell of a Dreadwing, but a _real_ Dreadwing with wings, claws, and fangs??"

Spyro walked up to Ruby and replied, "You know what Flame calls them? Giant winged rats. We can take one of them." With a wink of an eye, the purple dragon turned around and walked back into the fort along with Ami, leaving Ruby to keep watch.

"Giant winged rats? Right, no worries." Ruby murmured, as she stayed at the doorway and kept out of sight behind the door.

Unknown to the Dream Weaver, a tamed Dreadwing had wandered around the fortress and approached the fort where Spyro, Ami, and Ruby were. The bat-like creature spotted Ruby keeping watch; it started licking its fangs with anticipation as it crept to the shadows to sneak up on the little Dream Weaver.

Inside of the fort, Spyro and Ami cautiously walked through the fortress, looking around quietly while avoiding not draw any noise. The purple dragon spotted a large prison near the back of the fortress and hurriedly ran toward it with Ami right behind him. As Spyro approached the prison, he saw numerous shadows of dragons hidden in the shadows until one of them saw the purple dragon and walked up to the bars, revealing to be a Artisan dragon. Spyro gasped and widened his eyes when several more dragons walked to the bars and revealed themselves, one by one, the purple dragon recognized. They were most of his friends back at the Dragon Temple!

"Spyro! You're alive!" A Dream Weaver exclaimed happily.

Spyro asked, looking around, "Where are the Apes?"

"The Apes have gone off to search for something." replied, a young Beast Maker dragon. The other captive dragons worriedly and desperately chattered to Spyro, anxiously wanting to be freed.

"Please, get us out!"

"Hurry before they get back!"

Spyro walked up to the bars, then looked to Ami and ordered, "Check on Ruby."

Ami replied, "Okay, but hurry, the longer we stay here the worst it feels." The little Artisan hurried back to where Ruby was.

Spyro walked up to the bars and reassured to the dragons, "Don't worry, I'll get you all out of here." The purple dragon started pushing the bars apart as hard as he can, his paws ached painfully as he pushed until he finally stopped and panted. The gap he made was only big enough for a small dragon to squeeze through, but one of the captive dragons, a Magic Crafter named Moira, managed to squeeze through the opening like it was no big deal and stood beside Spyro in one piece.

"Ruby, how are you doing?" Ami whispered, walking up to the little Dream Weaver from behind.

Ruby replied with a smile, turning back, "Just fine, Ami, no sign of any-"

Suddenly, a loud screech screamed out as the tamed Dreadwing was perched on an iron gate, glaring down at Ruby and salivating at the thought of killing and eating her. Ruby screamed out with fear, "DREADWING!!"

The Dreadwing leapt for Ruby, but Ami quickly grabbed the little Dream Weaver by the scuff of her neck and pulled her back inside the fortress before the large, bat-like creature slammed into the spot where Ruby last stood. Ami and Ruby hurriedly ran back into the depths of the fortress as fast as they can. The Dreadwing appeared at the door, shaking the loose dirt that clung to its fur before it started walking in to find the dragons it saw. The bat-like creature then spotted Ami and Ruby running up to Spyro, Moira, and the captive dragons.

Ami cried out, as she and Ruby stopped by Spyro, "Spyro, hurry! There's a-" She was interrupted when a familiar screech screamed out and Ami and Ruby leapt away in time to run from the lunging Dreadwing that landed on the spot where they last stood.

Spyro and Moira widened their eyes and gasped when the Dreadwing turned and spotted them; the other dragons backed away into the darkness to hide. The bat-like creature screeched as it leapt for them, but the two dragons ducked to the floor in time to feel the monster whizz over their heads. Spyro and Moira ran a few feet away from the Dreadwing, panting.

"I think I'd rather go back inside the prison cell now." Moira whimpered.

The Dreadwing crept out of the darkness of the fortress and advanced toward Spyro and Moira, screeching and crying aggressively at them. Spyro spread his wings and glared at the bat-like creature, growling at it.

"Ami, Ruby, take Moira and run for the door," Spyro said sternly, glancing at Moira and back at the Dreadwing, "I'll meet you back at the portal."

Ami and Ruby peeked out from behind a dark dragon statue and looked at Spyro. "You're not going to do anything foolish and Flame-ish, are you?" Ami asked, worriedly.

"Ancestors forbid." Spyro replied, as Moira hurried toward Ami and Ruby, and as Dreadwing screeched out to attack, the purple dragon suddenly charged at the monster and head-butted right into its skull, causing the Dreadwing reel back and fall to the ground, dazed. Spyro looked at the bat-like creature as Ami, Ruby, and Moira hurried toward the entrance to run out of the fortress.

"What about the others?" Ruby asked, looking back.

Ami replied, turning back to Ruby, "We can't go back, it's too risky. Come on." The little Artisan then gasped and quickly ran out as the Dreadwing slowly rose up to its claws, dazed, and shook its head before turning to Spyro with a piercing glare. The purple dragon bolted for the door of the castle, but the Dreadwing noticed the attempt and leapt over Spyro, landing in front of his path and growling down at him. Spyro gritted his teeth with aggravation before he turned and ran back into the depths of the fort with the Dreadwing trailing after him.

Ami, Ruby, and Moira hurriedly ran out of the fort and through the base, but they were loud enough to wake one of the Death Hounds that was sleeping behind the iron fence. The hound started barking and howling viciously at the fleeing dragons, banging its paws against the gate as the other hounds woke up and snarled at their enemies.

The three dragons took cover in the bushes and looked back to the fortress, panting while hearing the angry barking and snarlings of the hounds. "I wish Spyro would get out of there." Ruby muttered.

Ami reassured, as she, Ruby, and Moira waited outside of the fortress, hidden from sight, "He'll be along, don't worry."

* * *

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It was late evening back in the Artisans home, the other dragons were unaware of the situation Spyro and his small team and were enjoying themselves. Grayson and Bruce were in the large library, looking into a few books about their dragon history and their Artisan and Peace Keepers ancestors from the past. Flame, Ember, and Coltrane were practicing their strategies at the dojo they discovered in the room where the huge dragon statue stood, showing off their abilities onto a baboon dummy in the center of the room.

Outside in the rolling fields, Rikki was laying in patch of beautiful flowers to enjoy herself, no longer have to worry any monster attacking her. But she was wrong...

As the clouds covered the sun for a moment, Rikki looked to the sky and saw a black, swirling vortex hovering in the air. At first the little Magic Crafter thought it was a hovercraft, but when she saw a familiar shape exited out of the vortex, Rikki widened her eyes. Flying through the air was the very monster that tried to kill her friends the other day, its large wings flapping noisily and a loud scream filled the air.

"C-Cynder!!" Rikki hollered in fear, as she turned and ran back toward the Artisan Temple, nearly tripping on the grass until she entered the temple.

Cynder had noticed Rikki run into the temple and roared before she doved down toward it, intent on finding the rest of the dragons. Inisde, Flame and the others were trying to find Cosmos that their enemy is here, but couldn't find him anywhere. The young, red dragon then noticed someone was missing and walked to Flarea, who was trying to check if her wing was better.

Flame questioned,"Where's Spyro?"

"Purple dragon went off to find new dragons at fort." Flarea cawed, "They be back soon."

"Dang it!" Flame cursed under his breath before he ordered, "Find Spyro! Tell him that Cynder's here!"

Nodding, Flarea spead open her wings and ran forward into the edge of a balcony, flapping her wings as she gained speed. With a loud cry, the young phoenix miraculously took flight into the air and flapped her wings as she gained altitude. To Flame's amazement, Flarea opened a portal and flew right into it without stopping. The young, red dragon turned around and saw the rest of his friends running to a hallway to hide from Cynder.

As Flame started to follow them, a loud explosion erupted in front of him as the young dragon shielded his face with his wings, unware of the black, slender form of Cynder approaching him. The large, black dragon smiled evilly as she reeled back on her hind legs and screamed out, raising her claws over Flame to strike him down. Before she could touch Flame, a sudden blast of magical flames struck Cynder from the side, sending her painfully crashing into a wall.

Flame opened his wings and gasped, but then Cosmos leapt in front of him, growling at Cynder as she tried to recover. "Run! I'll hold her off!!" Cosmos said, looking back to the young, red dragon before he turned back to Cynder.

Flame roared, his anger and stubborness rushing out, "No! I'm not leaving you!!"

"For our ancestor's sake, Flame, **GO!! **They need you now!!" Cosmos commanded, before he blew out a blast of green flames at Cynder as she screeched out with growing rage. Flame stubbornly stood there, but with a angry snarl, the red dragon raced off into the hallways, following his friends and cursing himself for running away.

Cosmos and Cynder slowly circled each other as they growled, waiting for a move to be made while their eyes glared at each other. The Magic Crafter elder suddenly lunged at the large, black dragon and knocked her away against the wall. Cosmos sank his teeth deep into Cynder's wing as the black dragon roared and bellowed in writhing pain before he proceeded to injure her left wing. Cynder went on an insane rage as she grabbed Cosmos' neck with her mouth, and with a powerful toss, she flung the Magic Crafter into a wall, nearly crashing him into unconsciousness.

Panting, Cosmos rose to his feet and approached Cynder to lunge at her again, but the large, black dragon suddenly spewed out dark, lustering flames at him, blasting Cosmos directly onto his chest. The Magic Crafter elder flew back into the wall, writhing in unbearable, agonizing pain as the dark flames seared parts of his body. Cynder remorselessly approached Cosmos and growled into his face, "That was for my wing, you fool. Now we're even."

Without hesitation, the black dragon ran into the halls that lead to where Flame and the others went before she disappeared with a flick of her lashing tail. As Cosmos weakly watched Cynder disappear deeper into the temple, he muttered faintly, shaking from the pain of his injuries, "Spyro...help..."

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Inside the fort, the tamed Dreadwing searched the base for Spyro as it looked behind every nook and cranny for the purple dragon, growling. Fortunately for Spyro, he was standing a few away from the creature and started back away to the shadows for cover. As he creeped away to hide, the purple dragon accidentally backed into a large, metal staff and the Dreadwing instantly turned to Spyro's direction and it instantly charged at Spyro, opening its long fangs to sink its teeth into the dragon.

Narrowing his eyes, Spyro took in a deep breath and blew out a hot, searing flames at the Dreadwing as the creature was engulfed in flames, screeching and screaming until it reared up and exploded in a blast of flames. Seeing that the monster was dead, Spyro sped for the door to the fortress and ran out to the fields outside the grounds while hearing the barking noises of the Death Hounds that saw him.

As Spyro ran through the fort, he failed to notice a large baboon watching the purple dragon from the top of a fort balcony running through the grounds before he pulled out a staff and it started gathering purple energy into its orb. Spyro kept running and noticed he was close to getting into the cover of the woods, but as he reached it, the large baboon fired a ray of purple energy from his staff at the fleeing dragon...

A loud explosion erupted violently at the entrance of the dark forces' base as birds flew out their trees, frightened by the sudden noise. Ami, Ruby, and Moira gasped with fright, widening their eyes.

Ruby asked, startled, "What was that?"

"The Apes!" Moira replied, keeping low on the grass, "The commanders use staffs to blasts things from far away."

"I warned him." Ami said, lowering her head, "I warned him it was too dangerous..."

Ruby questioned, questioned, "Have...Have they got Spyro?"

Ami closed her eyes and used her second sight to sense the Ape that blasted Spyro. She opened her eyes once she sensed him, "Not yet. But he'll find Spyro unless we find him first. Come on." The little Artisan lead Ruby and Moira away from the fortress and back to the way they came until they reached halfway through the plains. Ami stopped and looked around, the nrecognized her surroundings.

Ami turned and asked the little Dream Weaver, "Ruby, do you know how to get home?"

Ruby walked up and looked around before she turned back to Ami. "Yes, I do." She replied.

Ami responded, "Good, you take Moira back. I'll find Spyro."

"B-But how?" Ruby asked worriedly.

"I just will." Ami answered, "Now get going." Nodding, Ruby ran off into the fields as Moira followed her, but stopped and turned to Ami.

"I hope...I hope Spyro's alright, Ami." Moira said, before she quickly followed Ruby back into the fields as Ami went back to the way she came to find her big brother.

Meanwhile, a familiar moving form of Spyro lurked through the tall grass of the woods before he stood up from the foliage on his hind legs to look around, wincing in pain from a large gash on his left leg from the blast. Seeing something approaching, the purple dragon quietly crept and limped inside a sizeable, hollow tree trunk to hide. The cold shadow of a large creature was casted across the log the purple dragon took shelter in as something huge searched for him.

Ami pushed some tall grass away from her view and spied the large, armored baboon from the cover of the foliage. She figured it was the same baboon that blasted Spyro with his staff and was now searching for him. The little Artisan wondered if she would run out and confront the ape or just stay in the cover of the grass as a coward. Fortunately, Ami's thoughts were cut short when she saw the large baboon disappear further into the woods to where Spyro might have hidden.

Seeing that the coast is clear, the little Artisans jumped out of the bushes and ran over to the log where Spyro was taking refuge in. "Spyro?" Ami called out, then saw the purple dragon weakly turn his head from the corner of his shoulder to his little sister.

The purpe dragon muttered, before he smiled, "Ami..."

"Hold on, Spyro..." Ami reassured, before she walked in and carefully helped Spyro up and out of his shelter. As the purple dragon walked out of the log, his back leg limped in pain from the gash, but he knows he can still walk.

Suddenly, a loud cry was heard from the skies as Spyro and Ami looked up and saw the flaming form of Flarea circling above them after spotting them from the air. "Spyro! Big trouble back at Artisans! Cynder there!" The young phoenix screeched urgently, flapping her fiery wings.

"Cynder?!" Spyro gasped, his eyes widened.

Ami turned to her big brother and cried with worry and dread, "We have to go back to Artisans and fast!"

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Flame, Ember, Rikki, Halvor, Coltrane, Grayson, and Bruce ran as fast as they could through the halls of the Artisan Temple, panting and ignoring the aching pain of their muscles that were begging them to stop and rest. Panting and heaving from the relentless sprint, the young dragons ran into a room, and to their dismay, they walked right into a room where they were no other doors to go through. They were trapped. Behind them from the hallways was the distant, screeching and bellowing sounds of Cynder.

"What do we do now?" Ember asked, scared and worried.

Coltrane muttered helplessly, "Oh ancestors above, I can't believe we're going to be finished by a powerful enemy."

"We can't beat her, she's too strong." Bruce responded, "We're gonna die!!"

Flame growled at the Artisan, "Bruce, if you say another word, I swear-"

"I see one of you little ones has seen the obvious." Cynder commented evilly, as she emerged from the door that opened for her before it automatically closed behind her. Flame, forcing himself to now grow weak with dread, slowy edged away from the advancing black dragon along with his friends that stood behind him. They were cornered. Cynder just continued tormenting the dragons, as she manacingly advanced toward them, "Hmph. Troublesome little pests, aren't you? You will be easy to deal with..."

"Leave us alone!" Flame snarled, "Haven't you caused enough pain and suffering for us?!"

Cynder growled at the red dragon, "I will...until I destroyed all of you for my Master."

"Over my dead body!" Flame declared, bravely stepping up to Cynder without thinking.

However, the black dragon chuckled as she smiled cruelly at Flame, "Duly noted." Cynder's face grew cold and dark and she growled threatenly at the young dragons, as they shuddered with dread.

Flame courageously lunged at Cynder with a war cry, but was easily knocked away when the black dragon swung around and slammed her tail against the red dragon into the other side of the room, stunning him into the brink of consciousness. Cynder turned her attention back to the other dragons that cowered at her presence, knowing that they can't take on a powerful dragon. Laughing, the large, black dragon raised her head and inhaled a huge amount of dark energy into her mouth to prepare for a unstoppable blast to annihilate the dragons in a single blast. Before she could unleash it, Cynder heard a familiar voice rang out from behind her, which caused her to cancel her attack.

"Cynder!!"

The large, black dragon stopped in her tracks from attacking the young dragons and turned around only to see Spyro, glaring at her as his back leg limped painfully, still wincing from the gash. Cynder chuckled darkly as she saw Spyro standing valiantly before her, glaring up with determination in his eyes.

"At last...I have found you, _purple dragon._" Cynder growled.

Spyro said sternly, ignoring his wound, "Leave my friends alone, Cynder. It's me you want."

"Bring it." Cynder growled, as she spread open her wings and advanced toward Spyro. The purple dragon kept a safe distance from Cynder to try and strategize a way to intercept her, but painfully staggered from the gash on his leg. Suddenly, Cynder charged and swiped Spyro across his body, sending him reeling onto the floor.

"Spyro, I know you can do it!" Ember encouraged from the sidelines, far from the combat. Spyro stood back up to his feet and shook his head, then looked back to Cynder and growled. Cynder snarled at the purple dragon and roared in his face and was prepared the deal with her target once and for all, using the same attack she was about to use on the other dragons. The large, black dragon took in a deep breath as dark energy started gathering into her mouth and it was starting build up in a rapid pace.

As he panted desperately, Spyro remembered something from his studies a long time ago from the Dragon Temple and her closed his eyes as a powerful, burst of energy swept through him, time suddenly slowed around him affecting his friends and Cynder. A dark, purple orb started forming in front of the purple dragon as he started floating into the air, allowing a familiar power to flow through him like a stream of warm water. As he felt the energy reach the full capacity of its power, Spyro spoke through his thoughts as all went silent.

_Ancestors...I ask of you to unleash the true dragon...within me!!_

Spyro snapped open his eyes, and with a mighty flap of his wings, he unleashed spheres of purple, draconic energy onto Cynder from the orb he had created before. All at once, the purple spheres struck Cynder relentlessly before she had the time to react, each delivering a powerful blow onto the dragon's body to receive her punishment for all the wrong doings she had done in the past. The powerful pulses of the spheres shocked the black dragon's entire body, rendering her limp and unable to fight back and causing her incoming attack to be canceled once again.

As the spheres struck Cynder once more, a flash of purple, blinding light struck forth as the black dragon fell limp and collasped onto the floor, unmoving. Spyro slowly landed on the floor and panted after feeling every once of his energy being seeped out from using the attack he had used; the other dragons around him were shocked and amazed with disbelief and awe, but then turned their attention back to Cynder.

The large, black dragon moaned weakly as rays of light started emitting from her body and she started shrinking down in size until the black dragon was about the height of a young dragon. Her eyes were slightly open before they slowly closed as Cynder lost consciousness from the pressure of Spyro's attack.

Spyro widened his eyes when saw Cynder as a young, black dragoness; her horns had grown shorter and dull as her size shrunk down until she was about the same size as Ember. The silver bands around her neck and tail were gone and her wings were brand new like a young dragon's.

Spyro couldn't help but stare at Cynder with disbelief, stunned at her beautiful appearance as his eyes grew wide. "She _is_ just like me." He spoke out. The young dragons cautiously approached Spyro from behind and stood around him, looking at the unconscious Cynder that laid before them. Before long, Ember slowly approached the black dragoness followed by Grayson, Bruce, Halvor, Rikki, to help carry the unconscious Cynder to one of the sleeping quarters.

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**Author's Note: **Thank you all for being patient authors. As a small reward, I will show you all a little preview of the introduction of Chapter 8 with a returning, evil character coming back.

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Within one of the many lands of the Beast Makers world, a gigantic swamp, an overgrown, pink boar was savagely eating fresh plants from the swamp to satisfy its craving hunger, blinking at its surroundings. Before it could move to another part of the swamps, a sudden squeal of distress filled the air as the large boar turned and quickly ran to the other side of the swamp to find its young whom it left behind.

The Death Hound that attacked Spyro and the others on their first day in Artisans was now in Beast Makers after being sucked into the vortex within the tunnel he was locked into. Finding an easy meal, Devilseer was busy trying to overpower a young, baby boar that was left alone in the swamps by its mother. The Death Hound snarled when the baby boar tried to defend itself by bucking its small, lethal horns at him, but still he fought to take advantage of the little animal.

Before he could harm the baby boar, Devilseer noticed the large boar, the mother, charging to its young's aid, bucking its large tusks dangerously at him. The boar gored its sharp tusk into Devilseer's side and hurled him away several feet in the air before he painfully landed in a pool of muddy water. The hound snarled angrily as he rose up to his feet, then quickly backed away from the angry mother boar, seeing it snorting angirly and stomping its hoofs as it stood beside its young. Knowing that he can't take on a full-grown boar, Devilseer ran a few feet away from the wild animals until he was out of their reach; he stopped to glare at them. The boars were still cautious about his presence, their eyes still glaring at the Death Hound as the mother boar still snorted angrily at him.

Devilseer snarled at the boars, showing his sharp, yet crooked teeth, "Lucky for you, I got other things to do." The Death Hound turned around to face the swampy landscape, his eyes glinting evilly, "I have places to go, old friend dragons to visit..."

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Hope you enjoyed the preview. As I said in the last chapter, tell me how you like this chapter and its added preview. Please Review!


	8. Chapter 8: The Revenge of Devilseer

**Chapter 8: The Revenge of Devilseer Part 1**

Within one of the many lands of the Beast Makers world, a gigantic swamp, an overgrown, pink boar was savagely eating fresh plants from the swamp to satisfy its craving hunger, blinking at its surroundings. Before it could move to another part of the swamps, a sudden squeal of distress filled the air as the large boar turned and quickly ran to the other side of the swamp to find its young whom it left behind.

The Death Hound that attacked Spyro and the others on their first day in Artisans was now in Beast Makers after being sucked into the vortex within the tunnel he was locked into. Finding an easy meal, Devilseer was busy trying to overpower a young, baby boar that was left alone in the swamps by its mother. The Death Hound snarled when the baby boar tried to defend itself by bucking its small, lethal horns at him, but still he fought to take advantage of the little animal.

Before he could harm the baby boar, Devilseer noticed the large boar, the mother, charging to its young's aid, bucking its large tusks dangerously at him. The raging boar then gored its sharp tusk into Devilseer's side and hurled him away several feet in the air before he painfully landed in a pool of muddy water. The Death Hound snarled angrily as he rose up to his feet, then quickly backed away from the angry mother boar, seeing it snorting angirly and stomping its hoofs as it stood beside its young.

Knowing that he can't take on a full-grown boar, Devilseer turned and ran a few feet away from the wild animals until he was out of their reach. He stopped and turned his head, glaring at them. The boars were still cautious about Devilseer's presence, their eyes still glaring at the Death Hound as the mother boar still snorted angrily at him.

Devilseer snarled at the boars, showing his sharp, yet crooked teeth before he spoke to them, "Lucky for you, I got other things to do." He then turned around to face the swampy landscape, his eyes glinting sinisterly, "I have places to go, old friend dragons to visit..."

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It was daybreak in the Artisans home, the young dragons were running amok outside to enjoy themselves with their new members, Moira and Cynder. Flarea, the young phoenix has settled in the Artisan Temple to stay and built herself a nest full of coal to rest on top of one of the pillars inside. The dragons repaired the damage that Cynder caused when she was still under the Dark Master's control, though some of them questioned Spyro about how he defeated Cynder using his newfound attack he had studied back when he was a young dragonling.

"Tag, you're it!" Coltrane exclaimed, after running beside Rikki and tapping her by the shoulder with his paw before bolting away. The little Magic Crafter stopped and turned around to run after Coltrane through the hills close to the Artisan Temple, scurrying up the hill as they both ran passed Cynder.

The black dragoness stood on top of the hill, looking at the glorious view of Artisans with a dazed, yet remorseful look. The memories of what she did while under the Dark Master's control still lingered in her mind and heart and for what did to her new friends and home. The days when she was a dreadful monster to be feared and the flashbacks on how she lead the attack and killed the dragons in the Dragon Temple. Cynder closed her eyes at the memories and sighed heavily. Spyro and Ami walked up to the black dragoness stood beside her after exiting out of the Artisan Temple, looking at Cynder with concern.

"I'm still thinking about what I did..." Cynder muttered with remorse, "The pain and suffering I had caused...even though I try to shut them away, it only made them worse..."

Spyro questioned, his voice tinged with worry, "You're planning to leave...?"

Cynder shook her head, "I'm not sure, but...I feel that my place is here; my destiny. If I go, the Dark Master and his forces will find me again..."

Spyro slowly smiled reassuringly to the black dragoness before he turned to face the hills, responding, "I'm going with Cosmos today to find Ignitus in Dark Hollow."

"But...what if Ignitus isn't there?" Ami asked, worried.

The purple dragon answered, as he looked at the horizon with hope, "Only one way to find out..."

A few hours passed, Spyro and Elder Cosmos had set off to find Ignitus in Dark Hollow that was on the far side of the Artisan realm. The two dragons began walking down the hill while Flame, Ami, and Flarea stood atop the hill as they watched Spyro and Cosmos reached the bottom of the hill. Flame called out to the purple dragon, as loud as he can, "I'll see things here, Spyro. You just watch yourselves."

"There they go." Flarea sighed, watching the two dragons disappear into the hills, "Off on a journey to part of Artisans..."

Ami turned to Flame and Flarea, stating, "The journey's one thing, what they find the end of it is another..."

It was midday and the sun was set in the center of the sky to shine completely down upon the temple. As the other dragons played and feasted on their meals, Flame was resting against the side of the Artisan Temple in the shade to avoid the sunrays. He was about to drift into a peaceful, quiet nap when Ember walked by and saw him.

"Flame, aren't you suppose to be with the others? We're eating now." The pink dragon said, approaching Flame.

"Ember, I haven't rested well since that last attack." Flame responded, resting on his back as he let his wings droop, "Wouldn't it be wonderful to just lay in the sun without fear or worries?"

Ember sighed and murmured gently, "Spyro always keeps his cool about things, doesn't he?"

Inside the Artisan Temple, Cynder chased Ami through the halls and corridors while playing tag. The little Artisan thought about helping Cynder let go out of the past by playing the black dragoness, hoping it would keep Cynder's mind away from her memories of what she did. Ami and Cynder soon entered the Pool of Visions room and started running to the other side of the room; the little Artisan giggled when she saw the black dragoness playfully gaining on her. As Ami glanced her eyes at the Pool of Visions, she suddenly stopped dead in her tracks and caused Cynder to bump into her before sprawling across the floor.

"Not fair, Ami." Cynder laughed, but stopped when she saw Ami peering into the Pool of Visions, stuttering. The black dragoness asked, "What is it?" Ami didn't reply, but when Cynder looked at the pool, she started seeing images and gasped at what she saw within.

_A pair of piercing, yellow eyes appeared in the Pool of Visions, flashing and glinting with evil. A familiar, beast-like creature came into view, running through the Realms of the world to get to Artisans. The very killer that attempted to murder the dragons before, comes back with revenge in his heart. His hate and revenge driving his attack on the young dragons that sealed him underground, killing and massacring every single one of them for his hunger and wounded pride..._

Ami widened her eyes and managed to tear away from the Pool of Visions, gasping and panting in fear and dread.

Cynder was shocked and traumatized at the images she had seen along with Ami, her pupils dilated. "I know that Death Hound..." Cynder muttered with dread, as she backed away from the Pool of Visions with eyes wide with fear before she uttered the name that made her bones run cold, "..._Devilseer._"

Ami replied, shivering, "He's that hound...that hound we fought when we arrived here, he's coming for us. He's coming!!"

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In the Magic Crafter home world, a green wizard quickly hurried up to the safety of a high cave on a ledge to avoid the hungry snarls that were coming from the ground below.

Devilseer was trying to climb up the cliff after the wizard, but then remembered that his kind wasn't made for climbing rocky surfaces. The Death Hound turned around and uttered a snarl of aggravation, angry for losing another meal for his hunger, as he resumed walking through the self-constructed mountains and meadows of the Magic Crafter realm to get to Artisans. His only objective is to kill the dragons for the Dark Master and also have his _revenge_...

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Back in the Artisans home, everyone in the Artisan Temple was preparing to defend themselves for Devilseer as he travels through the worlds to get to them. Flame stood before the young phoenix, Flarea, and told her everything about the beast.

Flarea crowed, "Death Hound, huh? Loyal pets to those rotten Apes...Okay, Flarea will look for him."

"Report back if you spot him." Flame ordered.

Nodding, the young phoenix opened her fiery wings and backed away before she ran forward and took to the skies with a loud cry, flying to the distance until she disappeared into a portal she had created.

Flame turned to Rikki and said sternly, "And Rikki, it's your job to warn everyone in Artisans."

The little Magic Crafter replied, "I'll tell them that the Death Hound's coming and that they should leave or de-activate their portals."

"Good." Flame responded, "If that hound thinks he can find a meal here, he's in for a surprise."

Nodding, Rikki obediently ran off to the open area of Artisans, starting off by going into the Stone Hill portal on the far side of Artisans to warn its residents.

Inside the temple's gardens, Grayson, Cynder, and Ember were digging a large pit for Devilseer when he enters the room to find them. The three dragons were beginning to tire from their hard work and Grayson was about to collapse, but Flame entered the gardens and stopped to check on them. The young, red dragon urged, "Come on, put your backs into it. I want this pit finished by sunset."

Ember spoke out, as Cynder and Grayson stopped digging, "Take it easy, Flame. We're getting tired."

"I don't need to take any bad chance." Flame replied, glaring, "I'm going to make this temple safe if you have to dig till you drop." The young, red dragon turned to Cynder and questioned, "You know about that hound, don't you, Cynder?"

Cynder nodded grimly, her voice filled with slight remorse, "Yes. All I know is that Devilseer is the one of the most ruthless of the Death Hounds that serves the Apes as their pets. And I remember...that he is the one who lead the Death Hounds and killed most of the dragons on the night the Dragon Temple was destroyed..."

Flame looked at Cynder and sighed heavily, remembering his friends and the Elders that were killed. He muttered, looking at the three dragons, "Alright...get back to work." The red dragon turned around and ran out of the garden, leaving Grayson, Cynder, and Ember to resume digging the pit.

"The sooner Spyro and Cosmos come back, the happier I'll be..." Grayson complained, slumped on the edge of the pit to rest, before he turned to Cynder with a look of anger and aggravation, "You and your blasted Dark Master. I bet if you didn't serve him as his monster, we wouldn't have all this trouble!"

Ember responded, "Hey, it's not Cynder's fault!"

However, Grayson jumped toward Cynder and growled angrily, his anger overwhelming him, "You're a curse in this world, Cynder! That's what you are!!"

Cynder gasped with shock at the insult, stunned, and slowly lowered her head with hurt and humiliation...

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Devilseer was now in the Peace Keepers realm, a world of desert wastelands that was right next to the Artisans' home. A toothy grin had appeared on his face when he thought of attacking the dragons unexpectedly in their home. The thought of sinking his teeth into their bodies made him nearly salivate. Suddenly, a familiar, ear-shattering cry was heard from the air as the Death Hound looked up and saw Flarea hovering above him.

The phoenix angrily cawed out, "Nobody wants you in Artisans!" She dove at Devilseer, missing him before she flew to the air again. The Death Hound had ducked down just in time to avoid Flarea's talons, snarling at the phoenix.

"Dragons locked me in a warp tunnel." Devilseer growled to Flarea, his yellow eyes glinting evilly with hate and revenge, "They think I won't come back. _Stupid lizards_..."

With the reminder how he ended up within the Dragon Realms, Devilseer continued on his way to Artisans, running through the desert-like world of Peace Keepers to get to the Artisans realm. Flarea swooped down at Devilseer again as the hound looked up the young phoenix soar back into the sky, then resumed bolting through the wasteland. Flarea uttered out another cry before she flew on back to the Artisan world through a portal she had created as it closed behind her...

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In the fields near the Artisan Temple, Bruce and Coltrane had just finished filling in a secret entrance to the temple's gardens and were now slumped on the grass, exhausted from their hard work.

Flame tested the closed-in entrance and noticed that Devilseer would never try and dig his way through. "Hm. Good job, guys, now go into the temple and help Ember with the digging." The young, red dragon ordered calmly.

Coltrane moaned, laying on his back to let his paws rest, "I can't feel me paws."

"You'll feel mine if you don't do it!!" Flame threatened, snarling at Coltrane, as the Magic Crafter immediately jumped to his feet and hurried to the temple with Bruce.

Rikki appeared from the fields and stopped in front of Flame, panting, "I warned everyone about the Death Hound: the people in Stone Hill, Sunny Flight, and Town Square."

"Good job, Rikki." Flame responded, smiling, "Rest up, you need your strength for tonight." The little Magic Crafter slowly walked toward the Artisan Temple to let her legs rest against the grass before she watched Flame run to the temple. The young, red dragon hurried over to temple's entrance and saw Ember and Grayson, who were waiting for the young, red dragon to come to them after finishing their job. "You've done with the traps?" He asked them.

Grayson replied, "Traps, barriers, and pits. You should get a few tips from Spyro, unpleasant leadership made easy."

Flame reasoned calmly, "I'm trying to keep everyone _alive_, Grayson, not win a popularity contest."

"No fears then." Grayson grumbled.

"Where's Cynder?" Flame asked, looking around for the black dragoness.

Ember replied, shrugging, "She wanted to be alone for a while and went to the fields. I guess she's not back yet."

"Right...Better go find her." Flame responded, "Don't want anyone wandering off, not with that Death Hound on his way. You two help the others or I'll find _something_ for you…" The young, red dragon hurried off into the hills.

Grayson muttered, "I'll be glad when that hound turns up, it'll give _him_ something to do." The young Peace Keeper and Ember then walked back into the Artisan Temple to help the others prepare.

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The sun slowly reached the horizon of the hills as night draws near, the sky turned orange and red along with the evening. Several miles from the Artisan Temple, Flame was searching far and wide for Cynder through the rolls hills as fast as he can. As he wander around the rolling hills, Flame's gaze fell upon an old rock formation and a familiar, black figure that stood beside it, wallowing. He saw Cynder and hurriedly approached the black dragoness, stopping beside her.

"Cynder, what are you doing out here?" Flame asked, "That hound's coming and we have to be ready."

Cynder replied sadly, "And it's my fault, he's coming. Grayson was right, Flame."

"Huh? What's he right about?" Flame asked, as he felt concerned.

Cynder responded with self-loathing and sadness, "About what I did when I was under the Dark Master's control. What if I chose to join him? What if his power still inside of me?? I lead the destruction of your temple and helped kill the dragons there and Cosmos nearly died because of me. It's my fault!!"

Flame responded, "None of that was your fault."

"Grayson was right! I'm a curse! I can't stay." Cynder choked with tears, the memories of being the black monstrosity of the Dark Master now bitter as they churned in her heart and stomach, "I won't hurt anyone as long as I'm out here alone."

A familiar cry broke in as Flame looked up to the sky and saw Flarea flying and hovering in the air above him, calling out through her broken English, "Flame, I saw Death Hound! He close and he looked plenty mean too!"

Flame turned back to Cynder and said with a urgent tinge in his voice, "Come on, Cynder, there's not much time."

"You better get going, they need you." Cynder muttered remorsely, looking at Flame.

The young, red dragon stared at the black dragoness, but when he felt Flarea landing beside him, Flame turned to the young phoenix and ordered, "Stay with her. I'll be back when I can."

Flarea watched Flame run back to the temple and looked back to Cynder, seeing the black dragoness looking to the young phoenix with sadness, but the firebird smiled and remained by Cynder's side, "I not leave you, Cynder..."

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Back at the Artisan Temple, night time had already arrived as Grayson and Coltrane stood by the entrance, waiting and watching for Flame to arrive back with Cynder. The two dragons then spotted Flame approaching them, alone.

Coltrane asked Flame, "You didn't find Cynder?"

"I did." Flame replied, as he turned to Grayson with an icy glare of anger, enraged about the Peace Keeper getting angry at Cynder and causing her to stay out in the hills over what she did, "And you and I are going to have a serious _chat_ when this is over, Grayson."

Grayson questioned, unaware of the situation he had caused, "What did I do now?"

Flame answered, still angry at Grayson as he looked to the others, "Get inside. Everyone in position! We won't have a second chance if the Death Hound gets past our defenses!"

Nodding, the young dragons turned and headed for the door of the temple as it opened automatically for them to enter. Once the dragons were inside, the door closed behind them.

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As time flew by, it was late night in the Artisans, the crickets were singing peacefully and the moon was shining softly down on the Artisan Temple to provide little light. A ferocious snarl uttered out softly as a familiar, beast-shaped figure appeared in front of the temple where Flame and the others were presumably resting in.

Devilseer was lurking outside of the temple, growling and snarling softly with anticipation. After stalking around for a moment, the Death Hound emerged from cover of the tall grass and sniffed the air, instantly smelling the fresh scent of dragons still lingering around the Artisan Temple.

"It's time to feed, little dragons. _It's time..._" Devilseer muttered sinisterly as he beared an evil grin. His yellow eyes gleamed evilly before he quietly went toward the temple door as it automatically opened for him, allowing the Death Hound to enter the Artisan Temple to start his sneak attack on the dragons who locked him to another part of the world...


	9. The Revenge of Devilseer Part 2

**Chapter 8: The Revenge of Devilseer Part 2**

It all comes to this. The most feared and ruthless Death Hound to the Dark Master has finally arrived in the Artisan Temple and will most likely have his revenge upon the very dragons who sealed him in the rock tunnel, which warped him into the other part of the world.

Inside the temple, Devilseer made his way through the corridors and halls, thinking about killing some of the dragons to satisfy his craving stomach and his vengeance. As he walked through the hallways, the Death Hound couldn't help but bear an evil, sadistic grin at the thought of killing every single dragon that lives in the temple to please himself and the Dark Master.

Ember, Ami, and Moira were inside a room in the dark, instructed by Flame not to go outside in the halls to be easy targets for Devilseer. The three, female dragons stiffened when they heard footsteps approaching the door. They started trembling and quivering in dread as the monstrous shadow of Devilseer passed by the room and continued on his search for any vulnerable dragon that may appear in his sights. Hearing the footsteps fading away, Ember, Ami, and Moira all sighed quietly with relief, lowering their heads to the floor.

In the corridors, Rikki and Ruby were walking through the hallways to allow themselves to be seen by Devilseer as part of the plan created by Flame. Both of them were scared, but they had to do it for the safety of their friends and their new home. As they were halfway through the corridor, Rikki and Ruby gasped in fear when they saw Devilseer appear from the corner of the corridor they were in.

The Death Hound was sniffing the floor, but he lifted his head and instantly spotted the two little dragons. Devilseer then snarled eagerly when he saw Rikki and Ruby and licked his chomps with his forked tongue, knowing that the dragons would be easy to kill and devour. He glanced at Ruby and instantly remembered that the little Dream Weaver was the one who led him into the tunnel and narrowly escaped in order for the dragons to seal him in. The sudden memory made the Death Hound snarled viciously and aggressively, but when he saw Rikki and Ruby turn tail and ran, Devilseer quickly gave chase after them, roaring angrily.

"He sounds angry!" Ruby remarked, as she ran through the hallways.

"Well, yeah!" Rikki scoffed, running alongside the little Dream Weaver, "How would you feel if you were sealed in a rock tunnel and was warped to another part of the world?"

Rikki and Ruby scurried through the Artisan Temple as fast as they can, panting as they were trying to lure Devilseer through the temple. However, the two dragons slowly felt Devilseer's hot breath wafting at their heels as the he gained on them, closing the gap between them. Rikki and Ruby tensed and kept running, but no matter how fast they can, their speed was slightly slower than Devilseer's as the hound's dark shadow slowly eclipsed them both as he drew closer to them.

As the hound opened his jaws to grab the little dragons, the floor beneath Devilseer suddenly jerked upwards as he was sent flying backwards through the air before he painfully landed square on the floor, moaning. Rikki and Ruby stopped and turned around, seeing the floor descending back into place, but stiffened when they saw Devilseer rising to his feet, dazed. He shook his head to shake away the pain and dizziness before he looked back to the little dragons and snarled.

Rikki and Ruby gasped and ran away from the Death Hound after seeing Devilseer charging at them.

Coltrane peeked from behind the corner of the hall Devilseer was in and watched him chase after Rikki and Ruby again as he smirked. He had used his Magic Crafter magic to move the floor upwards to keep Devilseer from easily killing Rikki and Ruby and to buy his friends time to get ready.

Rikki and Ruby quickly disappeared into the garden as the door opened up for them and closed behind them. Devilseer growled and followed them into the garden, hoping to corner them there and eat them on the spot.

As he entered through the door, the Death Hound found himself in the garden, stopping, as he looked for any signs of his prey. He looked to his left and slowly forged a sadistic grin when he saw Rikki and Ruby cornered by a wall several feet before him. Devilseer couldn't pass up an opportunity such as this and began to move forward, threatenly advancing the two little dragons with a low snarl. No sooner had he done so, as he took another step, the Death Hound uttered a yelp of shock when he failed to notice the pit Ember, Cynder, and Grayson dug up before he slipped and fell into the pit, landing painfully at the very bottom.

Rikki and Ruby approached the pit and peered down into it, seeing Devilseer sprawled on his back, moaning. They both giggled at the sight of the hound, then went into another room after finishing their part of the plan.

Hearing their cue, Flame and Grayson emerged out of the bushes growing in the gardens and ran towards the pit. They stopped in front it and turned to face their backs to the pit, pushing loose dirt from the ground down upon Devilseer with their back feet.

The Death Hound snarled as the heavy dirt fell onto him, weighing him down and suffocating him, but with a snarl of growing fury, Devilseer pulled himself up and began climbing up the pit.

"Back!" Flame said, as he and Grayson backed away from the pit to see Devilseer emerging out of it in front of them, snarling with vengeful hatred in his eyes as he instantly lunged at the two dragons.

Flame and Grayson quickly turned tail and ran through garden with the Death Hound trailing after them. As they entered the grassy section of the garden, Flame and Grayson jumped down from a short ledge and over a pair of thorn bushes that was set up by the other dragons.

Devilseer noticed the ledge and skidded to a halt, but did it too late and he landed square on top of the spiked needles of the thorn bushes. The needles stuck themselves into the hound's stomach, and as Devilseer widened his eyes, he yelped loudly in pain and jumped up to his haunches to get off of the thorn bushes, roaring and bellowing in agony.

Flame, Coltrane, Grayson, Halvor, and Bruce were standing in front of Devilseer and growled at him, baring their sharp teeth and raking their claws on the ground of the garden as smoke trailed out of their nostrils to show that they were ready to blow out their flames at their enemy.

Seeing the incoming threat, Devilseer knelt down and stood back on his four legs before he started backing away from the dragons.

"Oh no, you don't!" Flame roared, as he, Coltrane, Grayson, Bruce, and Halvor tackled Devilseer all together, almost crushing the Death Hound under their combined weight.

Devilseer fought angrily and viciously, biting and clawing at the dragons as best as he could, he managed to swipe at Coltrane, Bruce, and Halvor at the same time as he easily knocked Flame, and Grayson off of him.

Roaring like the insanity of the evil, Devilseer growled at the dragons before he started to approached Flame after noticing him struggling to rise to his paws. The red dragon struggled in vain as the Death Hound was upon him, but stopped in dread when he saw Devilseer opening his jaws to reveal rows of razor teeth, reaching closer and closer for Flame's neck.

Before Devilseer could deliver the deadly bite, Halvor quickly rammed into the Death Hound's side and sent him flying several feet into air as he collided into the wall and fell to the floor on his stomach, sticking the thorns deeper into his body to add the injury. Devilseer slowly pulled himself to his paws and shook his head, then looked to the young dragons.

However, his anger was suddenly replaced with growing fear as Devilseer saw the dragons recovering from their injuries and resumed advancing dangerously toward him to finish him off for good.

The Death Hound noticed the oppurtunity to flee and began to back away from the dragons, but realized it will cost him his pride and replace it with cowardice. As Flame and the others charged at him, the Death Hound took immediate action and ran out of the room with the dragons trailing him with determination and fury.

Devilseer continued his retreat, bounding through the halls of the Artisan Temple to get to the entrance while avoiding the snarls of the dragons who were chasing him. Enraged with anger, Flame increased his pace and got close enough to Devilseer to blow out hot flames at the hound's rear as hard as he could. Devilseer yelped sharply in pain as the searing heat burned on his tail, increasing his pace on his attempt to flee.

Roars and growls of fury continued on within the Artisan Temple until Devilseer bolted out of the temple's entrance with a look of hate in his eyes as he was looking behind him, then faced towards the hills.

Flame and Grayson had quickly followed the Death Hound until they stopped outside the entrance of the temple to see Devilseer running off into the hills to avoid them.

"Go find easier prey, _dog breath_, there's none here!" Flame snarled, as he glared at the fleeing Devilseer.

Devilseer trotted a few feet away from the dragons, then stopped in his tracks near the edge of the hill and turned his head to face Flame and Grayson. His eyes still showed that he was still persistent on killing the dragons off.

"I'll wait out here till you come. Sooner or later, you'll come." The Death Hound growled to Flame and Grayson, his voice still toned with hate and revenge, as he turned away from them and started walking away towards the hills in defeat.

Flame growled back, "Wait all you want. We're plenty of food and we won't be out for a long time."

"And you won't find any prey around here." Grayson added, "Everyone's cleared out till you're gone."

Flame responded, "Stay here and you starve, you monster of a hound!" As the two dragons looked on, Devilseer slowly disappeared into the distance of the rolling hills of Artisans to find some other prey to find...

* * *

00000

"What is this place? Spyro asked, turning to Cosmos. The two dragons had just passed through the portal and found themselves in a small maze of lush, green hedges and a little patch of dark land. The sky was night, the stars had shown themselves clearly in the dark sky, twinkling as the croaking chorus of the frogs emitted from everywhere.

Cosmos replied, "This is Dark Hollow, young dragon. Come." The Magic Crafter elder approached the dark-encased land and Spyro followed him closely.

Dark Hollow was a land in complete darkness and Spyro remembered that it might be night also back in Artisans. Cosmos briefly sniffed the air near another tunnel and looked into it for a moment before turning to Spyro, "This way..." The Magic Crafter elder began walking into the tunnel and soon disappeared into the darkness followed closely by Spyro.

As Cosmos and Spyro ventured through the tunnel, the purple dragon looked around and saw a faint, shimmering lights of the lanterns ahead. Everything was silent as if no one lived in the tunnel in months. Cosmos and Spyro soon came across a room that connected to several other hallways, leading to many parts of the underground beneath Dark Hollow.

"Ignitus!" Cosmos hollered, his voice echoing down each other passageways, "Ignitus, can you hear me?"

"Old scent..." Spyro spoke out, after sniffing the ground, "It looks like nobody's been in months."

"I guess I was wrong..." Cosmos muttered, lowering his head.

Spyro stood beside the Magic Crafter elder and reassured confidently, "It's alright, Cosmos...We'll find him."

"Who is there?" an old and weary voice called out, as Spyro and Cosmos turned to one of the hallways and heard something large approaching. Spyro got ready and glared as the creature lumbered toward him, his wings spread out, but stopped when the creature reached the end of the hall. A large, red dragon stepped out of the darkness of the tunnel and appeared into the light of the corridor, gazing at Spyro and Cosmos. Dark red flakes grew from his light red scales, on his shoulders and around its tail as its dark red wings were folded weakly on its shoulders.

Cosmos widened his eyes when he recognized the dragon, "Ignitus!"

"Cosmos...Spyro..." The old, red dragon said, with a growing smile as he approached Cosmos and the purple dragon, "I thought I would never see you again..."

"Did anyone else survive?" Spyro asked.

Ignitus replied, slowly nodding as he slowly brought out a pair of dragon eggs, "Yes...Yes...I've managed to save two of the eggs before the dark forces came, but...I couldn't save the rest..."

"It is all right, Ignitus," Cosmos reassured, feeling the regret rising in his heart, "We should have all left when we had the chance. Only Spyro and his friends escaped before the attack happened."

Spyro walked up to Ignitus and said, smiling, "We're going home, Ignitus, to the place in the high hills. You'll like it there."

"We'll move on back in the morning." Cosmos stated.

Ignitus chuckled with a weak smile, allowing his exhausted legs to rest on the floor as Cosmos and Spyro sat by his side, "Can't stay here with no other dragon here, can I?"

* * *

00000

A few hours later in the Artisans home, midnight slowly passed as Devilseer sniffed the de-activated portal of Stone Hill for a few moments before he turned and looked around, searching far and wide at the landscape. The only thing he heard was the hooting calls of the owls and the singing chirps of the crickets living around the area, oblivious to the sinister beast lurking about in their home.

"No food...nowhere." Devilseer growled, looking to the hills surrounding him. "Must be some...somewhere."

The Death Hound started moving on to the other part of Artisans, hoping to find live animals that are nearby to satisfy the aching pain in his stomach that is craving for meat. As the hound walked to a wide field, Devilseer spotted a herd of sheep and licked his chomps at the thought eating some sheep meat before satisfying himself for a dragon's; he started stalking toward them.

Unfortuantely, when the Death Hound got close enough, one of the sheep noticed Devilseer and cried out an alarm and the whole herd scurried away into the night, leaving the hound with an empty stomach once again. Snarling angrily, Devilseer turned around and walked away to the other side of the meadows while climbing atop a hill to get a better of the landscape.

The Death Hound then uttered a shocked snarl when he looked toward the rock shelter where Cynder was resting in and caught a whiff of a familiar scent.

Devilseer muttered happily, "Mmm...smell dragon..." With an anticipating snarl, the Death Hound began making his way to the rock shelter, eagerly itching for the flesh of a dragon.

Cynder was inside a sizable hole that was made by the rock formation. It provided the black dragoness enough room for her to rest in, but when she cautiously looked out of her shelter through a triangle-shaped opening, Cynder drew back inside when she heard something approaching.

Devilseer walked out from beside the rock shelter and looked around to see Flarea resting outside, staying close to Cynder. Seeing this as an opportunity to feast, the Death Hound began to approach the young phoenix as quietly as he can. Fortunately, Flarea perked up from her sleep and saw Devilseer, and with an startled gasp, she took flight into the air before the Death Hound could pinned her down with a ferocious growl.

Devilseer looked up at the phoenix, hearing her screeching angrily in the air before she flew off. He turned back to the rock formation and instantly saw Cynder inside the hole, then started making his way toward her with a wicked grin. As he approached the shelter, Devilseer lifted his left paw and reached into the hole for Cynder.

Cynder gasped when Devilseer tried to reach for her, and when the hound's paw drew closer to her, the black dragoness tried to kick his paw away. Devilseer pulled his paw back out and smiled evilly, then looked into the hole Cynder was in, his yellow eyes gleamed.

"Come out, little dragon, no more waiting." Devilseer said sadistically, smiling wickedly at the sight of Cynder trembling in fear, "I'm hungry tonight." He sniffed the air and licked his chomps with hungry anticipation.

Cynder edged backwards, as she backed away from Devilseer in her shelter when he tried to reach in for her again. The Death Hound started to growl, as he started to squeeze the front half of his body into the hole. To Cynder's utmost terror, she realized that the hole was almost sizeable enough for Devilseer to have room to completely kill the black dragoness. Cynder edged away from the Death Hound as she watched him draw closer to her, reaching his claws out.

Outside, Devilseer had half of his body in the rock formation to reach in for Cynder, his tail swaying back and forth at the joy of killing one of the dragons slowly and painfully. As the Death Hound raised his claws, the black dragoness gasped in dread and backed further into the rock shelter, missing Devilseer's claws.

To add things worse, Cynder couldn't move back any further from the hound in her shelter. To her, the pain will hurt a lot more once the Death Hound grabs hold of her and rip her to pieces like any other prey, which might take out some of the Devilseer's anger and revenge on the dragons of Artisans.

Devilseer saw the look of dread in Cynder's eyes and knew the dragoness couldn't move any further back to escape him. "Won't feel a thing, dragon." He growled to Cynder with a twisted grin, his claws almost reaching the black dragoness.

"And neither will you till we get done!" A familiar voice shouted outside of the shelter opening, as if the person had heard the Death Hound.

After hearing the voice from outside the rocks, Devilseer stopped his attack and glanced over his shoulder. He then backed his way out of the rocky shelter from Cynder until his body was completely outside before he looked up to the source of the voice.

As the Death Hound looked up, Flame, Bruce, Halvor and Coltrane stood atop the rock shelter and they ran to the edge of it. Determined to save Cynder, Flame uttered a savage war cry as he and the other dragons leapt off the rocks and jumped onto Devilseer followed by several blasts of searing, hot flames erupting from their mouths...

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The following morning, the birds sung peacefully as the sun had risen up into the horizon in the Artisans home. Near the entrance of the temple, Grayson was outside trying to fill in a pit the other dragons dug up.

The young Peace Keeper growled and moaned under his breath, "Dig a pit, then go back and fill it in again..." He turned around, and to his surpise, he saw Spyro, Cosmos, and Ignitus approaching the Artisan Temple, "Welcome back! I missed you, Spyro, and I mean that sincerely."

"What's been going on?" Spyro asked, looking around.

"Bit a bother with the Death Hound, but we sorted him out." Grayson replied, then his voice was replaced with a hint of regret and remorse, "But Cynder's in a bad state, and it's my fault..."

The young Peace Keeper then lead Spyro to where Flame and the others are with Cynder, leaving Cosmos and Ignitus to stand at the temple entrance.

Cosmos turned to Ignitus and smiled, "Things tend to happen around here, Ignitus, but you'll get use to it in time."

Ignitus solemnly nodded, as he faced the landscape of Artisans, "Yes, it _will_ take some time. This may not be the Dragon Temple, but this place...this place is so much like home.."

Ember walked out of the Artisan Temple and smiled to Cosmos, "Welcome back, Cosmos. Hello again, Ignitus. It's been a while."

"Take these eggs to the nursery, Ember." Cosmos said sternly, passing the dragon eggs to Ember as the pink dragon nodded and carefully walked back inside the Artisan Temple with the eggs. The Magic Crafter elder turned back to Ignitus, but saw the old Fire Guardian still wallowing about the attack on the Dragon Temple; Cosmos looked at him with slight remorse as he closed his eyes.

00000

Several miles away, Flame, along with Coltrane, Halvor, Ami, and Bruce stood by the rock shelter Cynder took refuge in, trying to persuade her come back to the temple to live with them again. The lifeless body of Devilseer laid a few feet away from the dragons, charred and still sizzling from the burns they painfully and mercilessly inflicted on him when he tried to kill Cynder. The evil Death Hound of the Dark Master and threatening carnivore will no longer harm the dragons of Artisans ever again.

"I already told you." Cynder muttered sadly to the other dragons, still feeling responsible of the bad things that had happened, "I can't live in Artisans anymore. Please, go away."

Flame replied, with a shake of his head, "Don't think so."

Spyro's voice greeted, as the purple dragon and Grayson approached, "Morning, everyone."

"Morning, Spyro." Flame greeted back, turning to the purple dragon.

"Grayson told me what happened..." Spyro responded, stopping beside Flame before he looked to Cynder, "Listen, Cynder, it wasn't your fault that you caused all of this. You were under the influence of the Dark Master."

Cynder replied, still feeling remorseful, "You can't know that. Grayson was right."

Spyro turned to Grayson with a glare and stated, "Some of us blame the corrupted victim when they don't like their doings of the past. That's all he meant." The purple dragon turned back to Cynder while Grayson lowered his head with slight remorse about what he said.

"I don't think so..." Cynder said, lowering her head again.

"Look, nobody blames you for what happened." The purple dragon continued, "You were never given a choice to serve the Dark Master. You were taken by the dark forces as an egg."

Cynder perked up and looked to Spyro with growing hope, repeating, "I was taken as an egg??"

"And we have someone back at the temple who can tell you all about it." Spyro responded, nodding.

Cynder slowly smiled and walked up to Spyro, saying with realization, "So I didn't join the Dark Master because I chose to. I _am_ innocent."

"That's what I've been trying to say all night." Flame spoke out, as the other male dragons nodded to Cynder.

The black dragoness answered, slowly turning back to Flame, "But not the way Spyro said it."

Flame rolled his eyes and sighed, "No, of course not."

"Now, let's hear all about the Death Hound." Spyro inquired, as he looked to the others around him, "And I've got stories to tell about our journey to Dark Hollow."

With that said, the young dragons started chattering to Spyro about Devilseer's return and everything that has happened while he was away, laughing and cheering as they slowly made their way back to the Artisan Temple to see Ignitus. Another victory triumphed over the vengance and hate of a lone enemy and another adventure in Artisans awaits them all...


	10. Chapter 9: Lost

**Chapter 9: Lost**

A few weeks after Devilseer's return to Artisans, the young dragons continued to live their lives in their new home with their Dragon Elders Cosmos and Ignitus. The tunnel, the dragons used to seal up Devilseer, was open for investigation. Seeing that the warphole is also gone, it was safe to venture through the tunnels to see where it might lead to. One of the dragons, Grayson, was now venturing through the tunnels while the others were outside, walking through twists and turns as he went.

A faint sound was heard from somewhere. Grayson stopped and faced to another tunnel, which was emitting an eerie sound from within. "Strange..." He muttered, as he walked into the tunnel and looked to see where the sound was coming from.

Suddenly, a tremor shook the tunnel and the cracks slightly erupted forth in front of the young Peace Keeper as light beamed out from beneath and wind blew out of it, glowing brightly at Grayson as the wind blew on his face. The young Peace Keeper shielded his face from the light and the wind with his left wing as turned his head away from the cracks that made them. When he uncovered his face, Grayson noticed a cold and evil presence before him.

The young Peace Keeper widened his eyes and started trembling with dread as he slowly glanced up. As Grayson looked up, he saw the shadow of a large creature on the walls of the tunnel, glaring down at the young Peace Keeper with a pair of blood red eyes of pure evil.

Grayson breathed in growing fear, backing away from the shadow, "I-It's Death..."

The shadow closed its eyes and roared loudly around Grayson, causing the tunnel around him to start shaking. The young Peace Keeper yelled out with dread as dust and small rubble fell upon, and in instant fear, Grayson raced out of the tunnels and scurried out toward the way he came. The shadow of Death glared at the fleeing Peace Keeper, hissing and growling, before it disappeared into nothingness.

Outside of the Artisan Temple, Ignitus was telling Ami, Ruby, and Rikki on what they should to train on how to fly and fight to fend for themselves. Flame, Coltrane, Cynder, Ember, Spyro, Bruce, Moira were standing in front of them, listening to what Ignitus has to say.

Ignitus began, looking at the three, little dragons, "Ami, Ruby, Rikki, you three will all have to learn to fight and fly when needed for battle someday. In a few minutes, we will go to the Dragon Dojo and I will teach each and every one of you the basics of becoming a real dragon. Being brave and facing danger is not enough, for you will also need the guidance of the ancestors to aid you."

After hearing coughing, Spyro looked back to the Artisan Temple and noticed Grayson walking out of the entrance, though something doesn't look right about him. The young Peace Keeper looked very uneasy and was frightened by something. Spyro walked up to Grayson and asked with concern, "Grayson, are you alright?"

"Of course, why you ask?" Grayson replied, nervously glancing away from Spyro.

Coltrane walked up to the Peace Keeper and said, "Grayson, you looked as if you seen Death himself."

Ruby perked up and gasped, "Death? Where Grayson?" By the mention of the name, the other young dragons gasped and gathered around the young Peace Keeper with worry, also chattering with concern. The facial expression of Grayson's face was clear that he had probably seen Death face to face.

Ruby asked, looking anxiously at Grayson, "Did he call your name, Grayson? How did you escape?"

"Settle down, young dragons." Ignitus said, walking up to the dragons, "Grayson has not seen Death himself, have you, Grayson?"

Grayson replied, stuttering a bit, "U-Uh...no, no, no, of course not."

Ami gasped, "Grayson, you're covered in dust."

"Oh, well..." Grayson began as he looked at his paws and his scales, "A little dust never hurt anyone, did it?" The young Peace Keeper started shaking the dust off his scales and it started spreading around everyone, causing them to cough as the dust cleared away.

After coughing from the dust, Ignitus instructed to the younger dragons, "Alright, young dragons, proceed to the Dragon Dojo." Obediently, the young dragons walked over to the other entrance leading to the Dragon Dojo, following Ignitus and leaving Spyro and Ami with Grayson.

"We'll be right there, Ignitus." Spyro responded, before he and Ami walked over to Grayson. The purple dragon asked softly, "What happened down there?"

Grayson uneasily answered, "I discovered something...very strange."

"We should have a look then." Spyro said, as he and Grayson started making their way to the temple. Ami stood behind and was about to go with Ignitus, but Grayson called out.

"Coming, Ami?"

Ami thought about it and replied, "I suppose..." The little Artisan hurried to the entrance to the temple and went inside with Spyro and Grayson.

Inside the tunnels, Grayson explained, as he and Spyro walked through the depths of the tunnel ahead of Ami, "I was on my way up, when I heard...that." The same faint sound emitted from one of the tunnels, startling the dragons, "It came from in there."

"I don't like the sound of that..." Ami moaned, as she followed Spyro and Grayson through the tunnel, "Cosmos told us to stay out of this section. He's worried about a cave-in."

Grayson responded, "I say he has a point. Look." The young Peace Keeper, Spyro, and Ami peeked through the cracks that softly emitted light from beneath them. Below them was a very deep chasm.

"It's deep." Spyro remarked, peering into the dark abyss through the wide cracks before the wind blew out from them and onto the dragons' faces. Spyro, Ami, and Grayson closed their eyes and covered their faces from the wind with one wing, but Ami opened her eyes and was facing the walls.

"Oh my!" Ami shrieked, as she, Spyro, and Grayson looked back to the walls of the tunnel and saw the same, haunting shadow of Death towering over them, glaring. The three dragons widened their eyes in fear as Death's shadow closed his eyes and utter out a ear-shattering bellow once again, sending a painful sound wave throughout the tunnels as the dragons winced from the noise.

Suddenly, the cracks that were coming from the light started spreading through the ground beneath Spyro and Grayson in a quick pace, but as Spyro realized what was happening, the ground beneath them gave way and they instantly fell into a hole. The last thing Spyro shouted out, as he disappeared was, "**AMI!!**"

Ami gasped with shock and terror, but then felt the cracks spread apart beneath her paws. The little Artisan turned and ran to get away, but slipped when the ground ahead of her also fell apart into debris. Ami screamed out as she fell into the unknown hole trailed by dozens of rubble and dirt from the tunnels until the cave-in slowly ceased into a quiet tunnel. Grinning, Death's shadow vanished into nothingness, knowing that his task was complete...

00000

Deep below the hole, the sprawled forms of Spyro, Ami, and Grayson laid on the floor of the cavern, moaning and coughing. Spyro lifted his head and called out, as he coughed out the dust, "Ami! Grayson! Are you alright?"

"Of course." Grayson replied, rising to his paws and shaking off the dust and the pain.

Ami answered, lifting her body, "I'm alright. Where are we, Spyro?"

Spyro looked up to the way they fell through and saw only darkness, but he replied, "It looks like we've fallen into a cavern below the temple."

"I don't see any way back up." Grayson said.

"You're right." Spyro stated, "The rubble will just keep falling in on us. It might take days to dig through that."

Ami asked, "What are we going to do, Spyro?"

"Find another way out obviously." Grayson answered.

Spyro responded, "I think it's better if we stayed where we are. If Ignitus sees us missing, he'll dig us out."

Grayson retorted, "You just said it'll take days to dig through that."

"Ignitus is a good digger." Ami stated, "Maybe it won't take that long."

Minutes later, the three dragons were greeted with cold silence. They stayed close togther, hoping to stay warm from the cold underground world around them. "It's cold here, Spyro." Ami shuddered, shivering, "I bet there's nothing to eat down here...but us. Remember that Death Hound, Grayson?"

"Of course I remember, but that doesn't mean he's here." Grayson answered, remembering the now deceased Devilseer.

Ami responded, "But he must've ended up down here when we blocked him into that rock tunnel."

"Fine. So this is where he ended up when he was still lurking about." Grayson muttered.

Ami replied, "Most probably he would eat me on the spot and take you two back for a family feast." The little Artisan shuddered, and laid her body to the ground at the thought of being food for the Death Hound, "Oh...I don't want to think about it."

Grayson retorted, "Then stop talking about it!"

"Sorry." Ami said, then looked to Spyro, "Maybe we should look for another way out, Spyro."

Spyro reassured, "The others will find us. Don't worry."

"If Spyro says we wait, we wait." Grayson sighed, "And what happens, happens." Spyro looked at the young Peace Keeper by the statement he made and waited along with his little sister and friend, hoping that the others will notice they are missing.

* * *

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In the Artisan Temple, after a few hours, Ignitus noticed one of the young dragons was msising to participate in the Dragon Dojo. Worried, the old dragon sent all of the young dragons to go and search for them through the hills and landscapes of Artisans. However, they all found no luck finding them and they return to the temple. Cynder added, walking to her friends as she saw them climb up to the temple also, "Ami and Grayson are missing as well, guys."

"Missing?" Coltrane repeated, perking up and feeling scared, "Three of them missing?? It's Death."

Ruby stated, "He always takes them in 3's."

"Yes, and in 2's...and sometimes individually." Coltrane agreed, looking down to Ruby.

Flame spoke out, "Alright, we'll search the tunnels. Maybe they must've gotten lost down there."

Coltrane glanced to Ruby and whispered to her, "I don't want to go down into the tunnels, not with the Death around."

Flame walked up to Coltrane and Ruby, glaring at them as he growled, "I would worry about _me_ up here." Intimidated, Coltrane and Ruby walked toward the temple, not wanting to get on Flame's bad side.

Moments later, all of the young dragons began a search party for Spyro, Grayson, and Ami in the tunnels, venturing and exiting out each and every one of them, but found no trace of them anywhere. Flame walked through and sniffed at the entrance, he found no scent of his missing friends and continued forth. The red dragon walked into a small chamber where Coltrane and Ruby are, then noticed Ember exiting out from one of the tunnels. "Anything?" Flame asked, looking up to Ember.

Ember shook her head and replied, "Not yet."

Flame noticed Coltrane and Ruby weren't doing anything, but sitting and standing around. "What are you two doing?" He questioned, glaring at the Magic Crafter and the little Dream Weaver.

Coltrane replied, still feeling scared about Death, "Just um...strategizing."

"Okay, you and Ruby can search through some of these tunnels." Flame ordered, "I'll search through one of these on my side."

Ruby spoke out, also scared, "Uh...couldn't we go together?"

"Yeah, just in case we see Death...or something." Coltrane responded, "And maybe we won't disappear?"

Cynder hurriedly walked out from one of the tunnels. "No need for that. I think I found where Spyro, Grayson, and Ami may have been. Come on." The black dragoness turned and walked back inside the tunnel trailed by Ember, Coltrane, Flame, and Ruby,

Ember peeked into the hole and said, "Spyro, Ami, and Grayson were here alright. They fell through. Oh, I was afraid of this."

Cynder joined Ember and also looked down into the dark caverns below. "No sign of them below." The black dragoness said, peering into the jagged hole from the edge, "They must've gone to find another way up. What do we do?"

Ember looked to Coltrane, Flame, and Ruby, then replied, "We dig another way through."

"Oh, I hope they haven't gotten lost down there." Cynder muttered, as she, Ember, Coltrane, Ruby, Flame, and Moira started digging their way through the hole to make their way down to the caverns.

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Meanwhile, below the Artisan Temple and in the caverns, Grayson was resting his legs after he, Spyro and Ami finally decided to find their way out of the underground world, laying down next to a small puddle of water dripping from one of the stone stalagmites from above. The young Peace Keeper looked to Spyro and walked over to him, seeing the purple dragon sniffed the air in front of three tunnels.

Spyro spoke out, looking at three tunnels, "You know, there's fresh air coming from somewhere."

"That's what I've been saying all along." Grayson urged.

"Which way, Spyro?" Ami asked, walking up to her big brother and looking at the tunnels.

Grayson responded sharply, "What difference does it make? As long as we're moving."

"Let's try this tunnel here." Spyro said, as he walked to the tunnel on his left, followed by Ami and Grayson. Once inside, the dragons cautiously moved through the tunnel, seeing only darkness ahead of them.

"Keep moving, Ami!" Grayson urged desperately, almost shoving the little Artisan in front of him to go.

Ami retorted aggravatingly, "I am moving!"

"I can smell the fresh air ahead." Spyro announced, peering at the darkness in front of him. However, as Spyro started moving forward, Ami started shivering and stuttering as a familiar chill ran down her body; she started seeing images in her mind.

_A large black hole that swallows any who go..._

Ami shook her head from her vision and immediately whispered to her brother, "Spyro, stop!"

"What is it?" Spyro asked, stopping and looking back to Ami.

"Well, you heard him!" Grayson growled, ignoring Ami and started pushing her forward to the end of the tunnel with his head, "There's a way out there!"

As he pushed Ami further, the little Artisan gasped out when she was at the very edge of the tunnel and below her was a large, dark chasm big enough to swallow any unfortunate creature to its doom. As Ami was about to slip off the edge, Spyro quickly grabbed his little sister by the scuff of her neck and carefully backed his way from the edge, standing next to Grayson.

The purple dragon set Ami down as the little Artisan screamed at Grayson, still terrified that she almost fell into a chasm, "Grayson! You almost knocked me in!"

Grayson shouted with desperation and fear, "But there's a way-out! You said there was!!"

"I'm sorry, Grayson," Spyro said with remorse, "we have to go back..."

Grayson walked over to the edge of the tunnel and saw the dark chasm; he muttered sadly, "All this way...we come all this way..._For nothing!!_"

The young Peace Keeper turned around and ran back he way he came. Spyro and Ami glanced at each other before they quickly followed their friend. Fear of being trapped underground forever, Grayson ran out of the tunnel and into the cavern as he scurried up a rocky slope and towards a narrow, rocky bridge, which caused a large boulder to move down the slope. Spyro and Ami had just ran out of the tunnel and saw Grayson.

"Grayson, slow down!" Spyro shouted, but gasped when he and Ami saw the boulder rolling towards them as they jumped clear of the way to see the lark rock crash into a wall and split into pieces.

Ami asked, looking up at Grayson, "What's the matter with him?!"

"He's frightened, and I let him down..." Spyro replied, lowering his head a bit.

Ami stood beside her big brother and reassured, "Spyro, you always taken us through trouble before, I know you'll do it again."

Above them, Grayson still ran through the rocky ledges of the cavern, scurrying through a narrow rocky bridge before disappearing into a tunnel.

"Come on, Ami, we can't lose him!" Spyro said, before he and Ami quickly followed Grayson to wherever he was heading to.

Grayson was running through one of the tunnels, not stopping to rest or look back as the fear clung to his heart and mind, driving him forward.

Spyro and Ami trailed a few feet away from the young Peace Keeper, trying their best to catch up with him. As the Grayson ran, he noticed a pair of large icicles blocking his way in front of him. He screamed out and he saw his reflection on the ice coming closer and closer, then crashed right into the icicles, shattering them, as he fell to the floor of the tunnel. Spyro and Ami finally caught up with the young Peace Keeper, running to them and stood by his side.

Grayson had his head covered with his dark brown wings, hiding his face from Spyro and Ami as he trembled in fear. "We're lost...we'll never get out...And no one will never know what happened to us..." He whimpered, nearly sobbing.

Spyro saw that Grayson was afraid; even some Peace Keeper feel fear sometimes. "Come on, Grayson, on your feet." He encouraged.

"Spyro." Ami called, as the purple dragon turned to her little sister, "Go on, Spyro, we'll catch up."

Spyro looked at his sister for a moment before he walked ahead to the other side of the tunnel, letting Ami comfort Grayson. The little Artisan kneeled down to Grayson and said softly, "We found Artisans because we believed we would. We'll get out of here if we believe we can."

Grayson trembled from behind his wings, "Easy for you to say. You can see tomorrow so you'll know they'll be one. And Spyro is never afraid."

"Oh, but he _is_." Ami answered, "Right now, he's afraid he let us down. He's afraid you lost faith in him."

Grayson only shuddered and whimpered in reply, still uneasy and afraid, but he rose up to his paws and followed Ami to where Spyro was waiting for them.

Several minutes later, the three dragons resumed searching their way through the caverns to find a way out. As they exited out of the tunnel, Ami and Grayson stopped and widened their eyes with wonder and awe. Ami muttered, looking around, "Our ancestors hide beauty in the strangest places. And we might be the first to ever see it." Around them was a very large cavern covered in iridescent rocks, glittering all around as the dragons walked.

"Our ancestors wouldn't make all this just for us, did they?" Grayson asked, looking around the iridescent stalagmites.

Ami smiled, "They made Artisans, didn't they?"

Grayson gasped with realization, resuming to follow Spyro through the cavern, "We were meant to see this, then they must want us to tell about it, so there that means we have to get out!"

"Now you're starting to believe!" Ami smiled, jumping down from a short ledge to follow Spyro closely.

Ami stopped for a moment and muttered, "Wait...you don't suppose Death wanted us to see this...do you?"

"I'm not sure myself." Grayson said, "But it seemed he almost wanted us to fall into the hole."

Investigating in one of the tunnels, Spyro told his friends to stay while he investigates. He poked his head out from the tunnel and noticed he was in another place, surrounded by swampy growth and landscapes. "This must lead to the other part of the world. Beast Makers." He said, before moving back into the tunnel to go back to Ami and Grayson.

"Where does that go, Spyro?" Ami asked, looking to a tunnel next to her.

Spyro walked over to the tunnel and went inside, once he reached the other side, the purple dragon cautiously looked and noticed he was covered in a large bush. He stopped when he heard heavy footsteps coming from outside of the bushes, he looked through the foliage and saw Apes walking around, carrying spears and staffs. Spyro noticed he was inside of the fort he, Ruby, and Ami invaded several weeks ago where the Apes were currently processing.

Quietly, Spyro backed his way to the tunnel and went back inside, then quickly ran over to Grayson and Ami. "That way leads to the Apes domain."

Ami asked, shivering, "They didn't see you, did they?"

Spyro shook his head, "No, but I'm guessing the rest of the tunnels lead to different parts of the worlds, even realms we heard about in stories."

"At least we don't have to travel all the way through the world." Grayson smiled faintly, but it faded instantly.

Spyro sniffed the air again, but this time he caught the scent of flowers. He shot to the direction where the scent was coming from and immediately followed it into a tunnel with Ami and Grayson right behind him. In front of the purple dragon, he saw sunlight gleaming from the end of the tunnel ahead and pressed on. Spyro lifted his head from the darkness of the tunnels and into the bright, warm sun, blinding momentarily before he looked at his surroundings. Rolling hills, ornate castles, and meadows all around. The Artisans home.

"We're on the other side of Artisans." Spyro said, looking around the familiar hillsides and flower meadows.

Ami smiled at a familiar sight, "I see the Artisan Temple dead ahead, Spyro." The purple dragon turned to where Ami was facing and saw a familiar structure standing on the highest hill in Artisans.

"Let's go home." Spyro smiled, as he, Grayson, and Ami started making their way to the Artisan Temple through the hills and meadows.

Once they reached the temple, the three dragons noticed no one was outside. They went inside and looked around for their friends and Elders, but couldn't find them anywhere. "Where is everyone?" Spyro asked, looking around the temple for his friends.

As Spyro, Ami, and Grayson entered the tunnels where they expect the others to be looking for them, they saw the hole they fell through earlier was wider than before as if someone dug it. Ember's voice spoke out from the bottom of the hole, "Oh, we're through! Well done, everyone!"

In the caverns, Flame, Ember, Cynder, Coltrane, Rikki, Ruby, Bruce, Moira, and Halvor were looking around for Spyro, Ami, and Grayson, peeking through the tunnels and trying to find their scent. However, they were unaware that the dragons they were looking for were looking into the hole and gazed down at them.

"Where's their trail?" Cynder questioned out.

Ember replied, pointing to a tunnel, "They gone down this way."

"Cynder! Ember! We're here!" Spyro shouted from the edge of the hole, as everyone from below the cavern looked up and saw the purple dragon with Ami and Grayson, surprised and glad that they are safe and sound.

Coltrane asked, looking up to Spyro from below, "What are you doing _up there_? We're down here rescuing you."

Minutes later, the young dragons were about to participate in a fighting game between Flame and Coltrane on the cavern below the Artisan Temple as their arena. The young red dragon and the Magic Crafter started circling each other, waiting for the first move to be made.

"Waiting to be beaten by me, Coltrane?" Flame growled playfully, circling Coltrane.

Coltrane smirked, circling Flame, "We'll see who's tough, Flame ol' boy."

Spyro and Ami sat and happily watched the fight from afar with Cynder and Rikki. Ami smiled to Spyro, "You know not long ago, we were alone and terrified down here. And now it's full of life; part of our temple."

"And we found a secret way to the heart of the Apes domain." Spyro responded, "Funny how things turn out."

As Flame circled Coltrane, he lunged at the Magic Crafter and pinned him down. However, Coltrane gave the opportunity to position his back legs underneath Flame's stoamch and with a flash, Flame was sent backwards into the air. The red dragon yelped with surprise and landed gently on the ground, laying close to Cynder and Moira and out of the ring.

Bruce announced with a smile, turning to Coltrane, "Well, we have a new champion!" Coltrane stood up on his hind legs and cheered happily. The other dragons smiled and walked over to him, chattering about his victory.

"Oh, ha ha ha..." Flame chuckled flatly, as he walked over to Coltrane along with the others. The young dragons gathered around the Magic Crafter laughing and celebrating his victory in their new cavern where the connections of the Dragon Worlds are found.


	11. Chapter 10: The Test

**Author's Note:** Greetings, I have finally updated. I know you may have noticed there has been a few reviews in my review list that are saying bad things about my story, but they're right, and I'd done a very bad thing. We discussed about it and I apologized. Now that's over, let's continue on with the story and ignore them. And your favorite female dragons finally star in their own adventure!

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**Chapter 10: The Test**

_Outside of the Artisans realms, near the apes' domain, several dragons lurks around the woods that surrounds the stronghold of the territory. The Apes, unaware of the dragons, were on watch in their fortress for any signs of enemies, ready to call out an alarm for anything that comes in their sights. __Suddenly, a large fireball struck an Ape soldier, burning him to death in its blazing heat. The other apes were confused and shocked by the sudden attack, before several more fireballs started blasting around the fortress, striking any Ape they can land on. Three dragons soared through the skies, hurling and breathing out the fireballs to attack the Apes from a distance._

_As the Apes tried to evade the fireballs, a certain, purple dragon and several others raced through the fortress and into one of the Ape's stronghold. Moments later, the purple dragon bolted out of the fortress followed by many other young dragons trailing behind him through the chaos. Before long, he led the dragons into a secret tunnel and they escaped the madness of the Apes' domain without their enemies knowing where they had disappeared to..._

"Ami! Ami, wake up! Ami?"

A pair of eyes opened to reveal Ruby standing over Ami, concerned and worried. Ami opened her eyes wide and panted from the images that appeared in her mind, but was relieved to see Ruby. The little Artisan looked at the Dream Weaver, sighing, "Oh, Ruby...it's you."

"Your eyes were glowing white while you were sleeping." Ruby said, watching Ami rising up to her paws in her bed, "Was it another vision?"

Ami looked at Ruby, then glanced down with concern and worry. She muttered, "I don't know what it was...I dreamt that Spyro and the other guys invaded the Ape's domain and they saved our friends from some execution..."

Ruby responded, "But they did, Ami."

"W-What!" Ami gasped, widening her eyes.

Ruby continued, "Spyro and the others got back from the Apes' domain this morning and all of the other dragons are exploring the temple. Ignitus was furious, but he was glad that they did it."

Ami was shocked, slowly glancing down to the floor. "So that wasn't a dream after all..." She muttered, as she turned to the window, seeing the view of snow falling from the sky...

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It was daytime in the Artisan realm, accompanied by the cold air of winter. The snow slowly drifted from the sky, giving the sign of winter for the dragons' first year in Artisans and marks the first day for the new arrivals. A white blanket of snow covers the entire realm of Artisans, as frost had crawled their way atop of the castle's rooftops around the meadows.

A snowflake pratically drifted down from the sky and landed directly on Coltrane's snout. The Magic Crafter stared at the snowflake for a moment before he shook it off and looked towards most of the young dragons looking about their new home. It was getting a little crowded when the survivors of the Dragon Temple began living in the Artisan Temple, but it was meant to be if Spyro and his friends would continue the dragon generation.

Watching them closely was Ignitus, standing near the entrance of the temple as he overlooked the young dragons after they were released from the dark force's clutches.

Cosmos walked out of the temple to check on the new arrivals and looked around briefly until he saw Ignitus and walked over to him. The Magic Crafter elder spoke to him, "Ignitus, it is excellent that Spyro and his friends freed the rest of the young ones, but there is a slight problem. With so many young ones, there won't be enough food for us in the temple."

Ignitus spoke out, "I already know. The season of winter is mostly the time when food grows scarce, Cosmos, and this year, I can hardly see any sheep nor vegatation in sight."

"We must do something, Ignitus, otherwise, the young ones will starve." Cosmos stated, he started trying to think of a way to solve the problem, but suddenly he thought of something, "Unless.." The Magic Crafter elder turned to five certain dragons in the mist of the new arrivals and called out their names, "Cynder, Ami, Rikki, Ruby, Ember, would you five come over here for a moment please?"

Perking up, the five female dragons obediently walked over to Cosmos and stopped in front of him. The Magic Crafter elder said to them calmly, "I have assigned you five a test."

"A test?" Ember repeated, cocking an eyebrow.

Cosmos nodded, "Yes, it is a test of humility. I have chosen you five to find a tree in this realm; this tree is the symbol of Artisans since the beginning of time. The Frost Tree."

"The Frost Tree?" Cynder echoed with curiousity.

Ignitus replied, "It is a tree created especially for the time before the day of new beginnings to express good luck and hope. And tomorrow is that day."

"So, we have to find the Frost Tree and..." Ruby began.

Cosmos answered, "Come back with many as you can."

"And what does the Frost Tree look like when we find it?" Cynder questioned.

Cosmos replied, "It looks like a tree made of ice. The fruit resembles an apple, but they are blue and is covered in ice. The tree only grows in the coldest area in this season where there is little sunlight."

Ember said grimly, "If it's for our friends, then we'll do it. But, at this time of year, the carnivores get hungry too." She slowly turned to the uncharted hills of Artisans. Cynder, Ami, Rikki, and Ruby followed Ember's gaze and they all knew that finding the Frost Tree wasn't going to be an easy task.

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"Snow, snow, and snow. It's everywhere." Rikki said, she, Ruby, Cynder, Ami, and Ember were traveling through the far side of Artisans, walking through the snow. It was quiet and unsettling, providing cover for creatures that lurk about.

Ember turned to Rikki and said, "It can't be helped, Rikki. It's winter and winter's always the sign of snow. Actually, this is the first time I ever saw it."

Cynder spoke out, as she walked through the snow, "Be on the lookout, everyone, we're very far from the Artisan Temple and who knows what lurks out here."

"Maybe it could be Death Hounds, Wild Hounds or...Dreadwings." Ruby said sarcastically, looking around.

Rikki trembled with fright and responded, "Stop it, Ruby."

Cynder listened to the conversation taking place behind her and smiled. After several minutes of walking through the snow, the six dragons came across a large river which was frozen over by the winter cold. They stood near the bank and tried to figure out what to do next. A drift of snow suddenly landed on top of Ruby from the branches of the trees.

The little Dream Weaver emerged from the lump of snow and shook it off, complaining, "Ugh! I'm never getting used to this snow."

"It's new to us." Cynder muttered, looking down at the snow, then looked around.

As Ami looked at the frozen river, the little Artisan started shuddering and shivering. However, she wasn't shivering from the cold, as images flowed through her mind like a rushing river.

_No way across...without a loss...a loss..._

Cynder turned to Ami and noticed her shuddering loudly, clearing showing she having another vision. In concern, she asked, "Ami, what did you see?"

"Wait!" Ember whispered suddenly, looking to her left, "Everyone, get ready to move."

The other dragons followed her gaze, and to their horror and shock, they all spotted a large Dreadwing approaching the far side of the frozen river several feet away from them. Since it was in a cold environment, the Dreadwing's fur was almost covered in ice as if it was meant to live in the cold and its eyes were blue and emotionless. Its wings, however, were ripped to shreds, making the Dreadwing unable to fly to gain advantage. The large bat sniffed the air, but was unaware of the dragons' presence near the river.

"Across the river." Ember calmly ordered, her eyes still fixed on the Dreadwing.

Ami shook her head and replied softly, "No! We mustn't."

"It's our only chance to escape." Cynder retorted quietly, turning to Ami.

The Dreadwing sniffed the air again, almost catching a whiff of dragon scent close by.

"Ami, you first." Ember said quietly, nudging the little Artisan forward.

Obediently, Ami slowly slid on the snow and landed softly on top of the frozen river. She looked up back to the Dreadwing, who was still sniffing around the bank. The Dreadwing had its head turn away for a moment before it turned to Cynder and the others with a hungry, anticipating scream. The dragons all gasped with horror.

Cynder shouted urgently, "GO!!"

Altogether, the four dragons slid down from the small snowy slope and landed on top of the frozen river, then started making their way across the ice as softly as possible.

The Dreadwing had charged at the dragons, but when it saw them walking across the river, it stopped at the slope and screeched angrily at its fleeing prey.

Rikki was cautiously making small steps on the ice, however, several cracks began forming beneath her front paws, fortunately, they weren't on the verge of cracking apart. Sighing with relief, the little Magic Crafter continued making her way across the river with the others.

The Dreadwing narrowed its eyes with scorn and went down the snowy slope, carefully pursuing the four dragons across the frozen river. The large bat screeched aloud when it nearly slipped on the ice, but then stood back on its claws and looked down to check if the ice didn't crack. The ice didn't show any signs of cracking, allowing the Dreadwing to snap its attention back to the dragons only to see them reaching the snowy bank of the river.

"Hey, you mangy excuse for a predator!" a voice shouted, as the Dreadwing turned its head and saw Ember standing on left side of the frozen river, growling at it, "Over here!"

The Dreadwing narrowed its eyes and bent down its wings, screeching at Ember with a snarl, enraged by the insult and was prepared to charge.

Ember growled at the Dreadwing, she looked back to the others and smiled when they reached the other side, safe and sound. Just as she was about to walk, the ice beneath her began to crack at a quick pace. Ember gasped in time to see the cracks spreading, but before she could move, the ice gave way and the pink dragon screamed, as she fell into the cold, freezing river.

Cynder, Ami, Rikki, and Ruby heard the scream and turned to see a jagged hole in the river, widening their eyes with dread. Cynder gasped with shock, "Ember!"

After a few moments, Ember submerged from the cold water and quickly gripped the ice with her front paws to prevent herself from slipping, coughing and sputtering the water from out of her lungs. The Dreadwing started approaching the pink dragon on the ice as gently as possible, slowly making its way to kill her on the spot.

"You three, stay on the bank." Cynder ordered to her friends, as she started walking on the lake.

"Cynder! I felt the ice in my bones." Ami called, shivering from her vision, "The water...it wants one of us!"

Cynder retorted, "It can't have one of us!" The black dragoness then walked back across the river to get to Ember before the Dreadwing can.

Ember was busy trying to pull herself out of the cold river, but her feet keep slipping off the ice and the cold started to numb her body little by little as the Dreadwing drew closer and closer to her by the second.

"Hang on, Ember!" Cynder called out, as she carefully raced across the ice.

The Dreadwing turned its head and saw Cynder, stopping in its tracks as its eyes gleamed at the sight of the black dragoness.

Ember glanced over to Cynder and saw the black dragoness approaching to save her. "D-Don't be a hero, Cynder, get back..." She stuttered, frigid from the cold water.

Cynder then stopped dead in her tracks on the ice when she saw the Dreadwing growling at her, now thinking of killing the black dragoness. With a lunge, the Dreadwing charged at Cynder at full speed, its claws gently scraping the ice, and the black dragoness braced herself to attack.

Just before the Dreadwing could reach Cynder, a stray fireball blasted itself on its back, causing the large bat to scream out in pain. Ami had gathered the firepower to release her fireball onto the Dreadwing to prevent it from harming Cynder.

Ami shouted furiously with a snarl, "Stupid bat, leave Cynder and Ember alone!" She, Rikki, and Ruby took in deep breaths and blew out their fireballs into the air in a arc before blasting down on the Dreadwing, causing it to shield itself from the flames with its wings.

Cynder took this chance to run over to Ember to pull her out of the water while her friends kept delivering their fireballs at the Dreadwing. The ice began to crack beneath the Dreadwing from the heat of the fireballs. The large bat looked down and noticed them, it turned to Cynder and Ember, not knowing whether to abandon its chance to eat the dragons or run away from falling into the cold freezing water. As the fireballs kept soaring in and blasting it, the Dreadwing screeched and had no choice but to leap away from on top of the frozen river and disappear into the snowy hills with a angry scream.

Cynder gently grabbed Ember by the scuff of her neck and pulled her out of the cold water. She then started carried the pink dragon over to the other side of the river where Ami, Rikki, and Ruby are. Once she set Ember down, the black dragoness turned to her three friends and smiled, "You three did well."

"I-I n-need to rest for a moment..." Ember stuttered from the frigid cold air, laying down in the snow.

Ami retorted, "No, if you rests now, you might not wake up again."

"Come on, Ember, you can do this." Cynder urged, looking at the cold pink dragon, "What will Flame think?"

"F-Flame?" Ember shivered, perking up slightly, "...I-I wouldn't want him to see me...so helpless and weak...All right. N-No cold snow is going to stop me." The pink dragon slowly stood on her paws, wobbling for a moment and started walking through the snow with Rikki and Ruby assisting her if she collasped.

Cynder smiled, "That's the Ember we know."

"Come on, let's get you someplace out of the cold." Rikki said, standing beside Ember to help walk steadily.

Ember smiled through her cold, "T-Thanks, you guys." She continued to make her way towards the other side of Artisans, with her friends helping her to move away from the frozen river. However, they were unaware that the Dreadwing appeared at the bank of the frozen river again, watching the five dragons disappear into the distance...

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After a several minutes of finding a place to rest, Cynder eventually found a cave and led her friends to it to shield them from the cold. As Ember laid down, Cynder breathe out a jet of flames on a pile of wood, lightening the cave and providing it with little warmth. Ember edged closer to the flame, shivering and shuddering. Ami sat near the back of the cave, only to press against a very cold substance, which caused her to jolt up from the cold. The little Artisan slowly turned around and saw a tree, looming over her. After looking it, Ami backed away from it and widened her eyes.

"Everyone..." Ami muttered, "This is it...the Frost Tree.."

A large, frigid tree stood in the center of the cavern, glistening the soft sunlight gleaming from the cracks on the wall. Cynder walked up to the tree and saw fruit growing from the stems of the branches, encased in light layer of ice.

"Yep, this is the tree alright." Cynder responded, after examining the tree, "We got to tell Ignitus and Cosmos and led them back to this place."

"I'll stay with Ember." Ruby suggested, sitting beside the pink dragon.

Cynder looked at the Dream Weaver and said, "...All right."

Ami reassured, "We'll be back for you, Ember, don't worry." She, Rikki, and Cynder started walking out of the cave.

"H-Hurry back." Ember shivered, before she let out a sneeze along with a gush of flames. The pink dragon and Ruby could only watch as Cynder, Ami, and Rikki scurry out of the cave and back into the cold.

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Minutes later, Cynder, Ami, and Rikki were running through the woods of Artisans to try and find a way back to the Artisan Temple. The three dragons scurried through the dark forest as fast as they could, but then they suddenly stopped and gasped with fright when they spotted the same Dreadwing they escaped from earlier a few feet in front of them. The large bat was sniffing the ground, but it lifted its head and instantly saw the four dragons.

"Back! Run!" Cynder cried out, as she, Ami, and Rikki turned tail and scurried away. The Dreadwing instantly recognized the four dragons and growled; it screeched hungrily and quickly gave chase after them. Cynder, Ami, and Rikki quickly ran towards the other side of the woods, the Dreadwing trailing a few feet behind them.

After running and zigzagging through the woods for a short while, the three dragons eventually lost the Dreadwing during their sprint and stopped to catch their breath.

Rikki looked around, then pointed to another direction. "This way!" She said.

Ami shook her head, "No, we already went that way." She then gasped with dread when she and the others heard screeching cry of the Dreadwing approaching them from behind at full speed.

Cynder, Ami, and Rikki all gasped with fear when they saw the Dreadwing appear before them, growling.

The Dreadwing screeched at the three dragons, slowly advancing toward them with hungry anticipation. Before it advance further, a gust of snow and wind blew around them and the Dreadwing was buffeted by the snow and the drift, trying to shake the snow off from its eyes to focus on the dragons.

"Now!" Cynder called, before she and her friends quickly turned and fled again through the cold, blistering winds.

After the wind died down for a few moments, the Dreadwing turned back to the dragons only to see them running away. The large bat screeched and gave chase after them again, intent on having three course meal.

Cynder, Rikki, and Ami scurried through the woods again, evading the snarls coming from behind them when they finally reached a clearing. The Dreadwing leapt and bounded after them with a scream, baring its canine fangs as it tried to catch up with its prey.

Eventually, the three dragons were approaching a wide clearing and quickly leapt out from the darkness of the woods, still running away from the bat-like predator. The Dreadwing soon bolted out of the woods to continue pursuing its prey only to stop dead in its tracks and screech out with shock.

Standing several feet away from the carnivore was Ignitus and Cosmos, growling threateningly at the Dreadwing, who was frightened greatly by the enraged Elders. The Elders growled darkly at it, advancing threateningly towards it with smoke trailing from their nostrils to prepare to blow out their flames. Not wanting to fight two full-grown dragons, the Dreadwing took several steps back and turned around, fleeing back into the woods as quickly as possible until it disappeared.

Ignitus and Cosmos glared at the fleeing monster before they snorted and turned to Cynder, Ami, and Rikki were panting from their sprint.

"Are you four all right?" Cosmos asked, concerned.

Cynder nodded, "Yes. Thank you."

"W-We're fine." Rikki replied, still shakened.

Cosmos looked back to where the Dreadwing fled to and said grimly, "I never imagine a Dreadwing living in the Artisan Realm. It must've been here before you all arrived."

Cynder walked up to Cosmos and responded, "Cosmos, we found the tree, and Ember's there too. Come on, we'll show you where it is." The black dragoness and her friends turned and scurried back to the woods with Ignitus and Cosmos following them, leading back to the cave where the Frost Tree resides...

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Back at the Artisan Temple, the young dragons and the Dragon Elders brought in large amounts of the branches from the Frost Tree which held numerous frost fruit in its stems. Cynder was helping Ember make her way to the warmest part of the Artisan Temple where the others are to rest and keep warm while their friends were gathering more of the frost branches to the main room where the new arrivals were.

"This is great!" Grayson exclaimed, chewing on the edible juices of the Frost fruit he was eating. Spyro, Flame, Bruce, Halvor, Coltrane, Moira, and the rest of the young dragons were also enjoying the Frost Fruit, savoring the taste as they ate.

Coltrane licked the lumps of fruit from his lips and smiled to his friends, "This is the best dinner I ever had, chaps, it's like eating snow, except it has a sweet taste inside."

Ignitus and Cosmos walked into the main room, seeing all of the young dragons present and satisfied. "Everyone, may I have your attention?" Ignitus announced.

Slowly, the young dragons stopped eating and chatting, turning to Ignitus and waited on what he wanted to say.

The old, red dragon began, "The reason why you all here is because tomorrow marks a new beginning for us all. The ones we all know and loved...are gone, but...they did not die in vain. For ten dragons have escaped the threat and found a new sanctuary here in Artisans and have rescued the rest of you from certain death."

Spyro, Ami, Rikki, Ruby, Ember, Flame, Bruce, Halvor, Coltrane, and Grayson perked up altogether and knew they were the ones.

Igntius continued, slowly smiling,"We will relearn what our ancestors left for us and explore what they made in this realm. From this day forth, we will thrive and fight the dark ones who have found us and bring the dragon generation to _a new beginning_."

The young dragons cheered happily altogether, clamoring cheerfully. Spyro smiled with great happiness, he slowly turned to his friends and saw them smiling as well. All eight dragons have been through a lot together since they left the Dragon Temple; the adventure had changed them dramatically.

Ami.

Flame.

Ember.

Rikki.

Ruby.

Bruce.

Coltrane.

Grayson.

Halvor.

Cynder.

Spyro.

Each of them have fought and survived the unthinkable threats and has thrived to live to see the day of new beginnings. For the survivors of the dragons of the Dragon Temple are safe and will live on for the dragon generation and for the future...


	12. Chapter 11: The Return of Evil

**Author's Note:** Greetings again with another chapter, but a short one. By reading this chapter, will be second part of the Forgotten Realms story and it'll be a little darker. Along with the return of one of the recurring characters from the last few chapters. I know you'll probably hate me after you read the last part of the chapter, but I know you'll love the beginning of this chapter though. Oh, and the song in the beginning is called Thank You Stars by Cerys Matthews.

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**Chapter 11: The Return of Evil**

It was late winter in Artisans, the temple was brimming with life as the dragons were actively chatting and playing within its halls. A purple dragon emerged from the door of the Artisan Temple as it automatically opened for him, walking towards the quiet balcony. Spyro had walked out of the soft, clamoring commotions of the temple to the open, cold space of the balcony outside of the temple, looking up to the stars gleaming from the sky. The purple dragon stopped at the circular end of the balcony and silently stared at the stars, seeing past the snow that slowly drifted down upon him.

Soon afterwards, a familiar form appeared in the doorway behind Spyro and a black dragoness walked out, noticing the purple dragon standing there. Smiling, she started to approach Spyro to give him company. "Hi, Spyro." Cynder spoke out, as she approached.

Spyro turned his head and saw Cynder walking up to him, smiling, "Hi, Cynder."

Cynder stood beside Spyro and she sat down next to him, looking up to the stars. There was a moment of silence between the two until Cynder commented gently, "The stars are beautiful."

"Yeah." Spyro nodded, "Back at the Dragon Temple, we usually don't see the stars too much because of the jungle's trees. But here in Artisans...they're really something beyond words." He looked down slightly, "But...I have a bad feeling that more trouble will come."

Cynder lowered her head a little and responded, "Me too. The Dark Master is out there, somewhere. He won't rest until he finds us and destroy us all."

"I won't let that happen." Spyro retorted calmly, "Who does this Dark Master think he is? I don't understand..."

Cynder added, "He'll come for me too. After all, I _was_ his faithful servant. And now, I'm afraid he'll succeed in destroying the dragon race and manipulating me again into a cold and heartless monster..." She lowered her head and she slightly quaked at the thought of being the heartless beast she was once before.

Spyro turned to her and responded softly, "You don't have to be afraid anymore, Cynder. You're free..." He slowly lifted his paw and placed it gently on top of Cynder's.

Cynder blinked and looked at Spyro, seeing him smiling warmly to her. She smiled softly to the purple dragon and gently rested her head against Spyro's, watching the star-filled sky along with him. The black dragoness muttered to him dearly, "Free..."

_Some call it faith, some call it love  
Some call it guidance from above  
You are the reason we found ours  
So thank you stars_

_Some people think it's far away  
Some live within us everyday  
You are the reason we found ours  
So thank you stars_

_There are no winds that can blow it away on the air  
When they try to blow it away, it's when you know it will always be there_

_To some, it's the strength to be apart  
To some, it's a feeling in the heart  
And when you're out there on your own  
It's the way back home..._

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The following day, the young dragons were playing happily in the snow to enjoy themselves. Most of them were making snow dragons while some were having snowball fights. Magic Crafter Elder Cosmos was keeping an eye on all of the youngsters and kept a look-out for any predators or dangers that might be nearby. A loud cry screamed out as the phoenix, Flarea, glided how about the snowy air, overlooking the Artisan Temple and also kept watch for any enemies.

The visionary, Ami, sat near the entrance of the temple. She stood beside Cosmos to rest in the shade after playing with her friends, however, as she looked to the hills, and images slowly filled her vision and the little Artisan started shivering.

_Life may be fair or hard...as long as they don't lose their guard..._

Ami shook her head from the cobwebs in her mind and looked up to Cosmos, "Cosmos."

The Magic Crafter elder looked down to Ami, "Yes, young one?"

"I just had a vision." Ami replied, looking to the snowy hills in the distance with concern and worry, "Something's out there..."

Cosmos reassured calmly, as he looked to the hills, "Do not worry, young one, with so many of us here, no monster would dare to come here."

On the other side of the temple, a dark red dragon was leading the training session for six of his friends to help them prepare for any attack sat any moment. Flame was now a little taller than he was before the day of new beginnings, his yellow horns grew a little longer and his wings had also expanded by his age.

"All right, take cover!" Flame commanded.

Coltrane, Bruce, Halvor, Grayson, and Ruby quickly taking cover beneath the snow and hid completely behind and underneath any inanimate objects they can find. Spyro stood beside the red dragon and observed the training session.

Spyro remarked, "Wow. They're really good."

"Yep." Flame agreed, smiling proudly, "Trained by the second in command of the guard. If that doesn't rally the enemy, I don't know what would."

Spyro responded, "Very impressive."

"It gets _better_." Flame smirked mischievously with a sly grin.

Suddenly, the training group of dragons tackled Spyro from behind and they started tumbling halfway down the hill until they were sprawled altogether in the snow. Spyro was on his back and found himself staring face to face with Ruby who was standing on his chest after she and others tackled the purple dragon to the snow.

"Got ya!" The Dream Weaver giggled.

Flame laughed as he walked up to them, "Don't murder Spyro now, guys. Well done, you're free to go."

Nodding, Coltrane, Halvor, Grayson, Bruce, and Ruby dispersed back toward the Artisan Temple to see their friends. Ruby smiled proudly, as she walked away with Grayson, "We're so good, we can sneak up on a Dreadwing."

Grayson quickly whispered to her, "Don't let Flame hear you or _that_ will be our next training session."

As everyone else played and chatted, nobody noticed a beastial figure quietly moving along the snowy hillside near the Artisan Temple. A large Death Hound eyed the dragons from the shadows of the hills, its yellow eyes gleaming and his mind and belly hungry for a fresh kill of a dragon as it licked its lips with anticipation. It then spotted a couple of small dragons a litle farther away from the others and started creeping toward them; the snowy environment almost providing cover for the Death Hound.

Playing near the temple, Rikki and Ruby were having fun with two, baby dragons who had just hatched from the two eggs Ignitus managed to save.

"Tag!" Rikki shouted, as she gently tapped the baby Peace Keeper dragon on his shoulder before running off with Ruby and a baby Artisan dragon.

"Don't go too far!" Spyro shouted to the four youngsters, seeing Rikki and Ruby along with the two, little dragons scurry around the hills near the temple.

Flame reassured, "Don't worry, Spyro, they're going to be fine...Besides, there aren't any enemies around and I know they wouldn't dare to come near the temple with so many of us."

"Still...who knows what might be out there..." Spyro responded, looking back to Flame.

When Rikki, Ruby, and the two baby dragons were further away from the temple, the four started playing again, tackling one another. Ruby giggled as one of the baby dragons tackled her to the snow, but when she looked to Rikki, her eyes widened when she saw a pair of yellow, menacing eyes gleaming from behind the snow-covered bushes accompanied by a familiar, growling voice, "Hello,_ little dragons..._"

Suddenly, a chilling scream pierced the air and all of the young dragons shot up and turned to the other side of the temple to see Rikki, Ruby, and the two baby dragons desperately scurrying away from the Death Hound who was trailing after them. The hound was chasing the dragons down, snarling, quickly picking up his pace to catch up to them.

"Spyro! Spyro!" Rikki cried out, as she, Ruby, and the two baby dragons ran towards their friends with the hound closely behind.

Spyro widened his eyes with shock and disbelief when he saw the Death Hound, but quickly took action and charged towards the carnivore to save the youngsters.

Flame shouted, "Attack!" He charged towards the Death Hound alongside with Coltrane, Grayson, and several other dragons who were willing to fight to protect their friends.

As Ruby, Rikki, and the little dragons contined running to the temple, the Death Hound noticed the other dragons charging at him and stopped right in his tracks. With a angry snarl, it broke off its pursuit of the little dragons and ran back to the cover of the hills.

"How in ancestor's name...?" Flame panted, but trailed off, still shocked about the Death Hound's resurrection as Ruby, Rikki, and two little dragons ran towards Cosmos.

"It's all right, it's all right, young ones." Cosmos spoke, trying to comfort the little dragons as they nuzzled the elder in tears.

Coltrane turned to the red dragon and said, "Flame, I thought we killed the bloody beast. Scorched him to a shimmering corpse, we did."

"We did, Coltrane..." Flame replied, looking to the Magic Crafter, "But somehow he came back."

Spyro spoke out, "It doesn't make sense...How can something we already killed come back with no wounds? Unless...it could be..."

Ignitus stormed out of the temple at a quick pace after hearing all of the desperate and frightened commotion. He asked, as he looked at the young dragons, "What happened? Is everyone all right?"

Spyro replied, "Yeah. We nearly lost Rikki and Ruby, and two others, to a Death Hound, but we drove him away."

Ami scurried up to Spyro and panted, "Spyro, I had a vision about something that was lurking about out there. It was...Devilseer. I sensed him."

"How did he come back?!" Flame questioned, shocked and outraged, "We scorched him to death!"

Spyro responded, "I don't know, Flame, but I bet it has something to do with the Dark Master."

Sighing grimly, Ignitus turned to the other dragons, who were still stunned and startled into silence, and spoke sternly, "I think that's enough fun for one day, everyone..."

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That night, a deadly blizzard roared outside of the Artisan Temple, sending relentless amounts of snow piling around the temple to make snowed-in. The dragons were all prepared to go to bed in order to stay warm during this cold, raging night and hoped it would end soon. Though, they were still cautious about Devilseer now lurking about the hills of Artisans. Spyro was still up and about as he did his patrol rounds around the temple, along with Flame, Coltrane, Ignitus and Halvor. They weren't going to take any chances by resting, so they all began guarding the temple for any threats that might enter.

Within one of the halls, a young, green Artisan dragon around Spyro's age appeared from the corner of the hallway and walked down the hall Spyro is walking through. "Night, Spyro." He said, as he walked into one of the rooms.

With a smile, Spyro replied to the Peace Keeper, as he walked away, "Night, Aiden." The purple dragon resumed patrolling the hallways of the temple to make sure no enemy would enter.

Ami appeared and walked beside Spyro to stay up with him for a while.

"Any visions yet, Ami?" Spyro asked, walking beside her, "It would be nice to know, if we're going to through this all right."

Ami shook her head and replied, "I can't see anything yet, just a gray mist of possibilities..."

Spyro snapped, "You're a big help! When I really need to know the future, you can't tell me!!"

"...!" Ami winced by Spyro's loud tone and lowered her head in slight remorse for not being so useful to her big brother.

Spyro realized what he had said and responded regretfully, "I'm sorry, Ami, I didn't mean it..."

Ami nodded with understanding, "I know. You're worried, aren't you?"

"Everyone's here and alive because of me." Spyro responded, looking away, "I don't how long that will last..." He turned back to Ami only to her shivering and quaking, "Ami? Ami??"

Ami started moaning and quivering, her body becoming numb as images streamed through her mind.

_Brought back by the master of dark...The killer strikes back...hate and revenge drives his attack..._

Ami slowly laid on the floor on her side, shivering as her eyes glazed over. Spyro worriedly knelt down to the little Artisan and said, "Ami. Ami! Can you hear me? What did you see??"

"I see it...I see...Blood! The blood of an innocent runs cold!!" Ami shrieked with fright, as she started quivering and sobbing, curling into a ball.

Before Spyro could say anything else, the musky stench of blood suddenly reached his nose and he widened his eyes with dread before he instantly bolted for one of the rooms in the temple as fast as he could, leaving Ami in her shivering state.

Cynder appeared from the corner of the hallway and was starled when she saw Spyro running past her in a blur. She asked with concern, "Spyro, what's wrong??" However, the purple dragon didn't reply and kept running hurriedly through the halls. Worried, Cynder quickly followed Spyro to wherever he was headed.

Spyro's mind only raced one thing as dread had slowly clawed his heart: the safety of his friends. He winced in digust when he noticed the unbearable stench was brewing stronger as he drew closer and closer to the room where he is smelling the blood. As the door opened up for him, Spyro gasped with shock when he saw the beastial form of Devilseer standing on the bed, tightly gripping something with his jaws. The Death Hound perked up and slowly turned to Spyro with a murderous and sadistic snarl as he held the dying form of Aiden by the neck with his jaws.

As Devilseer tightly gripped his neck, large amounts of blood was streaming from Aiken's neck as he stared helplessly at Spyro, as if pleading for help and unable to utter a word. However, before Spyro could move, Devilseer forged a sadistic grin smeared messily with blood before he turned around and bursted through the window in the room, leaping down the ceiling of the temple and landing on the snowy ground while carrying the young dragon.

"NO!!" Spyro roared, as he ran up to the window and saw Devilseer bounding swiftly through the blizzard while carrying his kill. The purple dragon snarled with blazing and uncontrollable fury, before he could jump out after the Death Hound, he was suddenly pulled back by Cynder.

Cynder cried, pulling the purple dragon from going out into the harsh blizzard, "Spyro, don't! It's too dangerous!!"

"Cynder, let me go!! I have to save Aiden!!" Spyro growled furiously, struggling as hard as he could to pull away from Cynder as he was bent on trying to save the young dragon from the jaws of death.

The black dragoness shouted, still holding Spyro back as best as she could, "Don't do it, Spyro! He's gone..."

Spyro closed his eyes and shook his head, tears slowly streamed down his face. Almost sobbing over the loss of one of his friends, the purple dragon bellowed like a monster fueled with rage, "Aiden!! **AIDEN!!**" As everyone in the temple raced to the room to check what had happened, Spyro's cry was slowly replaced by the raging winds of the blizzard as he heavily sobbed out the name of his now deceased friend...

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**Author's Note:** I know it's tragic. Very tragic, but the rest of the story will be a little darker than last chapters so there will be blood, deaths, swearing, and murders in the future. But the SpyroXCynder moment in the beginning was excellent, I'm proud that I found a song that would perfectly suit their moment together.


	13. Chapter 12: A Tale of a Dragon

**Chapter 12: A Tale of a Dragon**

It was several days after Aiden's death, the snow was beginning to melt at the incoming sign of spring. The young dragons were saddened by the loss of one of their own on their first year living in Artisans. In memory, they made a grave for Aiden near the Artisan Temple to remind themselves that their friend would never be forgotten and that he will avenged one day. Inside the temple, Spyro was walking through the hallways and made his way towards a room. The door opened up for him and the purple dragon walked into the room which contained the Pool of Visions. There, he saw Ignitus looking into the pool for any signs of danger or evil presences that is currently in Artisans.

"Anything, Ignitus?" Spyro asked.

Igniuts replied, still looking into the Pool of Visions, "No. I can't see any dark presences close by. Devilseer must be somewhere in the other part of this realm."

Spyro asked furiously, "Then why don't we hunt him down? He could come back to kill another one of us. We can't just let him roam around and let him plan his next move."

Ignitus turned to Spyro, "Young dragon, you mustn't let your anger control you. I know Aiden was your friend, as he was my student, but anger will only bring more hatred and grief amoungst ourselves."

Spyro tensed and looked away from Ignitus, still feeling upset over Aiden's death.

Ignitus continued, "There will be a time when you will fight, and in that time, you can release that anger on your enemies. "Now, it seems that our life force is growing weak and our connections with the ancestors becoming thin. The Spirit Gems are loosing their power."

Spyro responded, "Then we should find some more and bring them back here."

"I'm afraid that will be impossible." Ignitus said grimly, "The Spirit Gems only grow in the secret of havens and I doubt that this realm doesn't have any."

Spyro sighed, "Then, I'm not sure what to do..."

Outside of the room, Cynder and Ember were secretly eavesdropping on the conversation which took place outside of the room. After hearing the end of the discussion, Ember turned to Cynder and asked, "Cynder, you're think what I'm thinking?"

"Yes." Cynder nodded with a smile, "We're going to bring back some Spirit Gems..."

"But where can we find them?" Ember asked.

Cynder looked down for a moment, she perked up as she remembered something and looked back to Ember, "I think I know somewhere...Get Ami and Moira."

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On the outskirts of the Artisan Temple, near the lonely scattered castles, Cynder along with Ami, Moira, and Ember ran through the rolling hills to reach the haven where the Spirit Gems are said to grow. Led by the black dragoness, the four dragons scurried and bounded across the distance, leaping over ledges and running past castle-like structures that stood around long ago. Eventually, they reached a large, old castle on the other far side of Artisans and ventured through it, walking into a clearing similar to many areas in Artisans. However, to their surprise, Cynder, Ami, Ember, and Moira found themselves in a wide open clearing bloomed with beautiful wild flowers. Large, iridiscent gems grew all around the clearing, gleaming brightly from the sunlight, as a large bundle of rocks stood in the very center of the clearing.

Cynder walked up to the Spirit Gems and spoke,"This must be it. The Spirit Gems must have been growing in this part of Artisans all this time."

Suddenly, a loud scream pierced the air and the dragons looked up to see the fleeting form of a Dreadwing flying into view.

"A Dreadwing!" Cynder exclaimed, before she, Ami, Ember, and Moira scattered away as the shadow of the Dreadwing glided over them. The dragons quickly took cover in the woods where the bat-like carnivore couldn't reach them. Ami was running around in the clearing in slight confusion on where to hide until she ran over to the other and quickly took cover with them. They all laid low until the Dreadwing soared over them and flew on ahead to find other prey.

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In a large apple orchard in the hills, close by the clearing of Spirit Gems, Rikki emerged from the grass once she noticed the same Dreadwing was soaring onwards to find easier prey. "Good, gone." She whispered, then started walking through the orchard and approaching a berry bush.

The litle Magic Crafter wandered far from the Artisan Temple to go and get something to eat by the orchard that was left by the Artisan Temple As Rikki made her way through the orchard, a large, wolf-like creature happened to be walking by the orchard until it stopped and noticed the little Magic Crafter walking a few feet away.

It was a Wild Hound; the relative to the Death Hound. It had the appearance of a Death Hound with the exception of its brown cloth and dark blue fur. In their place, was purple fur covering most of the top of its body; the only body parts which weren't covered by its fur was its sickly-green skin consisting of its ears, legs, reptilian tail, and muzzle. Its pair of purple eyes glowed from the at the sight of Rikki before its forked, thick tongue ran over its muzzle with thought of having a meal.

Rikki looked to the berry and thorn bushes and smiled, "Time for a little snack."

The Wild Hound approached Rikki from behind and stood behind her. "Couldn't agree more, dragon morsel." She responded in a seductive, growling voice.

Rikki turned her head and saw how close the Wild Hound was to her, gasping with fear and widening her eyes.

The Wild Hound growled and instantly lunged at Rikki with a bellow, as she did, the little Magic Crafter quickly leapt into the thorn bushes for cover. The Wild Hound stopped in front of the thorn bushes and snarled. She peered into the thorn bushes and said softly to Rikki, her purple eyes scanned around for her, "Got to come out sometime, dragon morsel."

Rikki had hidden herself behind the amounts of thorns that stood between her and the Wild Hound, keeping her safe for the time being. The little Magic Crafter looked around and saw a bunch of red berries clung to the edges of the bushes. Smiling, she started eating the delicate berries with a ravenous appetite.

Hearing Rikki munching on something, the Wild Hound sat down on all fours and waited patiently for the little Magic Crafter to come out. "Hm, later maybe. Worry then, eat now." She growled.

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"Okay, it's all clear." Ember announced softly, after she scanned the sky for the Dreadwing. She and the others walked out of the woods and towards the Spirit Gems.

Moira smirked, "Whew, that was close."

Cynder approached one of the Spirit Gems, a large one, and instructed, "Okay, guys, let's get these shards." She then slashed her horns against the Spirit Gems and shards were instantly dispatched onto the ground. Ember, Moira, and Ami did the same to the other Spirit Gems, making as many shards as they can so they can carry them back to their friends back at the temple.

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Meanwhile, back near the orchard, the Wild Hound was laying on the ground, licking her paws as she waited for Rikki to come out of the thorn bushes. The little Magic Crafter was still taking refuge inside the mixture of thorn and berry bushes, chewing and savoring the taste of berries as she ate.

As the Wild Hound waited impatiently for Rikki to come out, her ears pricked up by the sound of voices nearby. She looked to her right and walked up to some bushes to see Cynder, Ami, Moira, and Ember trying to gather large fragments of the Spirit Gems from within a large clearing.

"No, no, take it over here, Moira."

"Yeah, we don't want to break them."

"I know what I'm doing."

The Wild Hound stretched an evil grin on her muzzle as she eyed the four dragons, muttering, "Mmm...Lovely, more dragons." She turned back to thorn bush Rikki was taking refuge in, then turned back to the four dragons in the clearing, making a quick decision, "Mouthful of Crafter…or dragon lunch?"

The Wild Hound turned her attention back to Rikki's refuge, but then glanced back Cynder, Ami, Moira, and Ember. After making her decision, she decided to go for the four dragons as she quietly stalked towards them through the tall grass surrounding the apple orchard.

Moments later, after eating her fill with berries, Rikki cautiously peeked out from the thorn bushes and looked around for the Wild Hound until she noticed the hound was gone. The little Magic Crafter leapt out of the bushes and sniffed the air, still smelling the Wild Hound's scent. She looked ahead of the hedges, and to her horror, she saw the Wild Hound approaching her friends in the clearing.

Rikki cried out, "Cynder, Ami, watch out for the Wild Hound!" However, her four friends were unable to hear her from a long distance and Rikki moaned desperately as she watched the Wild Hound draw closer and closer to the four dragons. "Oh dear, they can't hear me!" She whimpered.

Rikki tried to think of a way to alert her friends before they're done for. The little Magic Crafter then saw an old tree and noticed it was on the verge of collapsing. She smirked and quickly charged at the tree, ramming into it with her horns and causing the old tree to emit a loud creaking sound as it leaned slightly to the side. Rikki recoiled and landed back on the ground in a daze.

Cynder shot up with fright when she heard the creaking of an old tree; she turned around, only to see the approaching form of the Wild Hound appear in the clearing with her and her friends. The black dragoness gasped with fear, "Wild Hound!"

The Wild Hound immediately charged toward the dragons as she roared with a bloodcurtling snarl. She swiftly lunged at Cynder, but the black dragoness had already bolted away from her along with Moira and Ember toward the cover of the ledges. The three dragons carried the large fragments of the Spirit Gems with their mouths, as they scurried into the depths of the woods.

Seeing that her prey was long gone, the Wild Hound stopped her pursuit near the edge of the clearing.

Cynder and Ember sighed with relief after they lifted their heads from the bushes, seeing the Wild Hound from afar. Moira emerged from the bushes and also sighed out a close call.

The Wild Hound growled at the dragons, but stopped and sniffed the air when she caught a familiar scent close by.

Ami was still exhausted from her sprint on the way to the clearing that she was accidentally left behind by her friends and was now standing behind the carnivore. The Wild Hound turned her head and instantly spotted the little Artisan as Ami gasped with shock and dread.

The Wild Hound smiled evilly and licked her chomps with her forked tongue, hungrily eyeing Ami as she blocked the little Artisan's only way of escape toward the others.

Ami turned and quickly fled from the Wild Hound, heading toward the batch of boulders she saw earlier. The little Artisan was looking back to see the Wild Hound chasing after her and she quickly dove into a hole made by the rocks that was sizable enough for her whole body to go through. The Wild Hound stopped at the rocks and nearly clawed the Ami's tail when she tried to reach for Ami, but the little Artisan moved deeper inside just in time and allowed some rocks to cover the hole.

"Oh ancestors above..." Cynder gasped, widening her eyes after witnessing the scene from afar with Moira and Ember.

Ami stood helplessly within the midst of the rocks around her, which provided her some protection from the carnivore. The snarling Wild Hound instantly reached Ami's refuge, and thrust her sharp front claws in as far as the rock would allow. With the little Artisan pressing herself as far in as possible, the hound's paws met only air and grass and she heard the carnivore began digging down into the ground in an attempt to dig under the rocks and reach Ami from below. The Wild Hound managed to peek her eyes from underneath the rocks enough to see the little Artisan and snaked her right paw under them to reach towards the petrified Ami.

The Wild Hound growled in a sickenly, sweet voice, trying to reach for Ami, "Ready for lunch? Come out. Come out, little dragon...Lustclaw's hungry..." Inside the rocks, Ami was trembling in fear, watching hound's paw trying to reach out for her from the under the rocks in front of her.

Near the tall grass of the clearing, Cynder, Ember, and Moira all watched and witnessed the frightening scene where Ami is trapped behind the rocks between her and the Wild Hound, known as Lustclaw.

"This is a bit of a pickle." Ember said, noticing that she and her friends are in a serious situation as they stood in the bushes.

"Our ancestors would be very proud of this job." Moira moaned, then tried to micmic what one of her ancestors might say to this situation, "Oh, well done, you brilliant dragons, they'd say."

Cynder glared at Moira and said sternly, "That's enough, Moira. We got to get Ami out of there."

The tall grass rustled and Rikki walked up to Cynder after making her way toward the black dragoness, enraged at the situation they're in. "Are you all crazy?!" She asked, "Carnivores everywhere and you come out here getting Spirit Gems?!"

Cynder retorted defensively, "It's not like we meant for this to happen."

"Ami's trapped like a mouse." Rikki said, turning her head to look at Lustclaw trying to dig Ami out from behind the rocks, "Now what are you going to do?"

Cynder replied, "Well, I got a vague idea, but we have to let Ami know what we're up to."

Moira turned back to Lustclaw and moaned, "I hope you're not asking for volunteers..."

"Got to come out soon, little dragon." Lustclaw growled to Ami, still trying to reach and dig her way to the little Artisan from underneath the rocks. She was oblivious to the dragons' presence on the other side of the clearing, planning their rescue attempt. The Wild Hound was determined to have her meal now, her clawed paw reaching for Ami.

Ami growled at Lustclaw from behind the rocks, but still felt scared, "You smell of corpses! Stop breathing in here!"

Cynder explained to Moira quietly, as they laid in the cover of the bushes, "Once Ember and I reached the other side of the clearing, it's up to you to distract the hound, Moira, then run right back. We don't want to loose you."

Moira retorted sarcastically, "Well, I hadn't planned on playing tag with _her._"

"Remember, Rikki's counting on you." Cynder added, then "You sure you're up to this, Rikki?"

Rikki asked, "How else are you going to give word to Ami? Telepathy?" The little Magic Crafter then quietly scurried over to Lustclaw in a quiet pace.

Cynder then gave the command to Moira, "Go!"

Obediently, Moira leapt away from her friends and quietly charged toward Lustclaw with as much bravery as she can muster, boltingthrough the tall grass and across the field of Spirit Gems. Rikki stopped behind Lustclaw, who was still too busy trying to reach Ami to notice, as Moira leapt into the air and rammed her horns directly into the Wild Hound's side, sending Lustclaw yelping in pain as she sprawled several feet away from the rocks. Moira smirked to Rikki, but the moment ended when an angry snarl snapped the Magic Crafters back to full attention.

Lustclaw had recovered from the attack and growled aggressively at Rikki and Moira before she ran toward them with a vicious snarl. Moira quickly fled back into woods as the Wild Hound trailed after her while Rikki quickly scurried around the rocks and to where Ami was trapped behind.

Lustclaw stopped when she saw Moira disappear back into the undergrowth. She then turned her head back to the rock formation with a growl and saw Rikki digging a hole sizable enough for her squeeze through to get to Ami. Seeing this, Lustclaw snarled and turned around, quickly running towards the little Magic Crafter.

Rikki had just finished digging and began crawling underneath the rocks, smiling to Ami as the young Artisan smiled back with relief. Before Rikki could pull her body from underneath the rocks, the little Magic Crafter dragon was suddenly pulled back as she gasped with fright, feeling someone pulling her tail to get her out.

"Ami, help!" Rikki cried out desperately, trying her best to pull herself inside.

Outside of the rocks, Lustclaw had pinned down Rikki's tail with her right paw and was now trying to pull the little Magic Crafter back outside of the rocks to give the Wild Hound her chance to kill Rikki. The Wild Hound smiled evilly, "A tail of the dragon. A sad tale, _indeed._" She resumed pulling Rikki's tail to pull her out from under the rocks.

However, as she did, Ami had turned and pushed some dirt into Lustclaw's eyes through one of the narrow holes in the rocks with her back feet. Lustclaw yelped and released Rikki's tail to rub her eyes with her paw, allowing the little Magic Crafter to slip completely under the rocks. Afterwards, the Wild Hound looked down to where Rikki's tail was and growled darkly with rage and aggravation.

Rikki stood next to Ami, panting, she knew they had enough room to escape the claws and teeth of Lustclaw. She giggled with relief, "Pretty fast hound, eh, Ami?"

Ami responded, "It's nice to have visitors, Rikki, but...do you really think you should be here? There is that hound."

"I'm delivering a message from Cynder." Rikki replied, "You okay?"

Ami smiled, "Well, apart from the hound, yes. I'm in a silly mess, aren't I?"

"Yeah, but we'll get you out." Rikki reassured, "Cynder said to dig. Dig under rocks, then out of the other side."

Ami perked up and exclaimed, "Brilliant! That is clever of Cynder." She then dug her paws deep into the ground and started digging up the grass and dirt, quickly making a sizable hole into the ground. As soon as she started digging, Ami was already making a hole and slowly dug her underneath the rocks. After a few minutes, Ami had dug a tunnel and was about to dug up to the surface, resting for a moment.

Ami panted, as she turned to Rikki, "Think we're far enough yet?"

"How should I know?" Rikki replied.

Ami responded, "Be a shame to come up under the hound, but..let's risk it." She resumed digging through the dirt above her, and soon, a streak of light erupted from a hole and loose dirt fell upon Ami as she shook it off. The little Artisan looked and noticed she was looking at the sunlight, knowing she must be out from underneath the rocks.

"Ahh...fresh air." Ami sighed, glad to see the sun again.

As soon as Rikki emerged from the hole first, Ami caught sight of something approaching from behind the little Magic Crafter. A towering, insect-like creature came into Ami's view. Its head was green with a single purple eye was on its forehead; a pair of insectoid arms hung around each side as if the creature was ready to strike. A pair of purple pincers served as a mouth for the creature, clicking softly as it approached. The rest of its body was like the body of a serpent; green skin accompanied by purple spikes and coloring on the top and a purple scaly underbelly on the bottom. A pair of pinkish wings grew from the creature's armored shoulder blades, knowing that it wasn't meant for flying, but to help it leap.

Ami widened her eyes with fear once she recognized the insect-like creature. A Grove Worm; one of the few creatures who prey on dragons only when food is scarce in Artisans. Probably after winter passed, food must've been scarce for the worm and now it probably wants dragon meat.

Ami whispered urgently, "Rikki, behind you!"

Rikki turned around and saw the Grove Worm, but instead showing a look of dread, she showed a look of relief. She turned back to Ami and reassured her quietly, "No, no, no, don't worry, he's a friend." Rikki then turned to the Grove Worm, as Ami slowly emerged from the hole, "Boy am I glad to see you."

The Grove Worm clicked and moaned in a different language, sounding calm and non-aggressive. Rikki spoke to the Grove Worm in the same language, explaining about Lustclaw and the situation that just happened. With a sly grin, she told the worm something in a devious tone. The Grove Worm clicked and moaned to Rikki in reply, then licked its mouth with its long tongue at the thought of eating something.

Ami asked, surprised, "You can...talk to it?"

Rikki replied, "I'm a Magic Crafter; it's my job to learn and speak the languages of other creatures." She then resumed talking to the Grove Worm in its language, glancing back a few times at the tunnel Ami made and told it about Lustclaw. Rikki stood near the entrance of the hole she and Ami dug up and spoke to the Grove Worm again, as she pointed a paw. The Grove Worm clicked softly again before it slithered down into the hole to where Ami was held hostage and appeared in the dragons' place within the rocks to wait for its chance to strike.

Smiling, Rikki turned to Ami and walked away quietly, "Come on."

Ami asked, "What did you say to it?"

"You'll see." Rikki grinned, as she and Ami quietly walked away from the rocks and into the cover of the woods in front of them, leaving Lustclaw to wait for the dragons to seemingly come out from underneath the rocks.

Cynder spotted the fleeting forms of Ami and Rikki running into the far side of the clearing. She whispered, "There they are. Let's go." Quietly, the three dragons grabbed their Spirit Gem fragments and slipped away from the clearing, scurrying towards where Ami and Rikki went.

Lustclaw was still waiting outside of the rocks, listening for any sounds of muffled talking and movement. She tilted her head to see if he heard anything, but she heard nothing, unaware that her prey was already gone. The Wild Hound then noticed something was not right.

Near the clearing, Cynder, Ami, Rikki, Moira, and Ember stood far out of Lustclaw's earshot. Ami was panting softly after sprinting away and muttered, "Next time, if I get an urge of adventure, I'll talk myself out of it."

Ember spoke out, "Let's not hang around. Everyone, grab a fragment."

Rikki called softly, "Guys, wait for a sec, you're gonna love this." She giggled, and turned around back to Lustclaw is; the others followed her gaze and waited.

As the dragons watched, Lustclaw was sitting down near the rocks and still waited. She looked back to the column of rocks and stared at it for any moment, and she turned around to the woods, feeling her patience growing thin. The rocks suddenly shifted, startling Lustclaw.

The Wild Hound growled impatiently as she stood back on all fours and knelt in front of the rocks where Ami and Rikki were, growling, "Come _out_, little dragons, Lustclaw's _waiting..._"

As if in response, the rocks shifted again as something was about to come out from under them. Lustclaw grinned evilly, expecting to see Rikki or Ami so she can seize her with her jaws. Instead, she saw the head of the Grove Worm emerging from the rocks as it hissed and its pincers clicked aggressively at the Wild Hound.

"Oh my!" Lustclaw gasped, widening her eyes with fright at the sight of a Grove Worm, one of the few creatures that feasted on both Wild and Death Hounds.

With a sharp yelp of fright, Lustclaw turned and bolted away only to give the Grove Worm enough room to quickly slither out from under the rocks and chase after its promised meal by Rikki. The Wild Hound whined and yelped as she ran, feeling the clicking and gnashing, hungry jaws of the worm right behind her.

Rikki watched and giggled, then stuck out her tongue and blew a raspberry at Lustclaw. Ember smiled at Rikki and the female dragons watched as Lustclaw fled toward the other part of Artisans, still yelping, as the Grove Worm hungrily chased after her into the hills.

Cynder, Ami, Rikki, Moira, and Ember laughed and chortled at the sight for a while, before they picked up the Spirit Gems and scurried back to the Artisan Temple...

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"And then, the Grove Worm rose up from the earth, like some monster serpent sent by Death himself." Ember narrated, finishing telling the story of her adventure to some little dragons. The fragments of the Spirit Gems were embedded into the soil in and around the Artisan Temple to provide light for the dragons in the darkest of nights under the instruction of Ignitus. In case of threats, they would use the gems power to give them strength.

Ami added, "It gave that hound quite a turn."

"Now the hound knows what a little dragon feels." Rikki spoke out with a giggle.

Ember responded, "Yes, more fun than play fighting. Can we go adventuring again, Cynder?"

"I don't know about that, Ember." Cynder smiled.

Ami turned to Rikki and said, "Still, Rikki, I can't believe you know how to communicate with that Grove Worm. And how it knows you."

"Well, it's a long story actually." Rikki replied, "But..I'll tell it. I saw the worm injured out here and I nursed it back to health. It started acting docile to me ever since."

Ember wondered, "Gee. Imagine having some carnivores as allies."

"I'd say we might have an advantage over some of our enemies." Cynder guessed.

Rikki giggled, "You should've seen the look on that hound's face when she went yelping." She started running around, making a yelping sound as she scurried around Ember and Moira. Ami smiled and started imitating like the Grove Worm, making clicking noises as she chased after Rikki to pretend.

Cynder, Ember, and Moira laughed at the innocent sight, as Rikki continued to run from Ami and the two little dragons both raced into the temple. Cynder, Ember, Moira, and the little dragons closely followed them as the sun began to set into horizon, its sunbeams slowly vanished as it sunk lower and lower, allowing the Spirit Gems to glow brightly in and around the Artisan Temple...


	14. Chapter 13: The Attack of a Predator

**Author's Note: **I don't know if I can continue the story. The bad reviews in my review list of what I'd done is still in my mind and it keeps getting worse. I'm thinking of deleting this story. I'll think about it though...

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**Chapter 13: The Attack of the Predator**

It was nighttime inside the Artisan Temple, stars dotted the clear night sky and the moon shown brightlyfrom the mist of the stars. However, this night is beginning to become a horrifying experience for the dragons living in the temple. Near the foyer, Cynder and Ember were backing away with fear as they heard the low, hissing and growling sounds of a deadly carnivore right outside the foyer in front of them.

"Come out..._dragon_, or I come in..." a sinister, hissing voice threatened, as the dark shadow of a Grove Worm stretched darkly on the halls of the Artisan Temple in front of Ember and Cynder. The two female dragons continued to back away from the entrance until they felt the bodies of other young dragons who have gathered to defend the temple from the carnivore.

Cynder turned to Ember and ordered, "Ember, get the little ones into the escape hall. If the Grove Worm gets past us, get out through the back way."

"Yes, Cynder." Ember replied, before she sprinted into the hallways of the Artisan Temple.

Cynder turned to her friends and said grimly, "We fight to the last." She and the other dragons then growled softly, as fresh steam began drifting from their nostrils, prepared to attack the Grove Worm once it enters the temple.

Outside the temple's doors, the Grove Worm was growling and hissing loudly with excited anticipation. Its clicking jaws oozing with drool, eager to slither into the Artisan Temple to start its attack on the dragons as it paced around the temple's entrance.

However, a familiar voice growled from behind the Grove Worm, "Hey, bug face!"

The Grove Worm turned around with a surprised hiss only to see Spyro, Flame, Halvor, and Bruce jumping at it with roars of fury. The four dragons had hurled themselves at the worm-like creature, grabbing the nearest flesh they could get their claws and teeth on.

Cynder and the other dragons perked up when they heard the Grove Worm suddenly screech out in pain from outside the temple's door followed by sounds of flesh being ripped and snapped apart and then the blazing noise of flames. The desperate hissing of the worm-like creature mixed with the roars of Spyro, Flame, Halvor, and Bruce as they fought to the death. After what it seems to be a long battle, a loud, dying shrill pierced the air.

Silence filled the air, Cynder cautiously approached the temple's entrance and saw Spyro and the other males right outside. She sighed with relief and ran towards them along with her friends. The purple dragon's snout was smeared in purple blood and Spyro tried to wipe it off with his free paw.

Cynder approached Spyro looked down and noticed the torn and lifeless body of the Grove Worm laying on the ground. She turned back to the purple dragon, "Thanks, Spyro."

Spyro smiled, "No problem."

"That was the third predator that came by here." Cynder responded.

Rikki added, "Yeah, they seem to everywhere these days."

Grayson asked, "Can't we get any peace and quiet without any flea-bitten, slimy, persistent, foul-infested carnivores trying to eat our hides?!" He sharply kicked at the dead Grove Worm.

Spyro replied, "It's the way of life, Grayson. The carnivores need to eat too, and we need to prevent them from making _us_ the main menu."

Flame scoffed at the fact, "Well, instead of us being part of the food chain, we should've lived somewhere else in the Dragon Realms where there are only a few carnivores around." He, Bruce, Rikki, Halvor, and Coltrane went inside the temple to rest trailed by the other dragons, leaving Spyro and Cynder outside of the temple.

Cynder turned back to Spyro and said grimly and worriedly, "Grove Worms, Wild Houds, Death Hounds, Dreadwings...what's happening to Artisans?"

"I don't know." Spyro replied, turning to Cynder, "But one thing's for sure, we're not out of the woods yet."

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Morning slowly rose in Artisans, as the sun began to rise up from the horizon and into the air. The dragons disposed of the corpse of the Grove Worm and were still cautious of their surroundings. One can never be careful.

Spyro, Flame, Cynder, and Ember walked over to Halvor who was playing around with five, little dragons near the edge of the high hill.

The purple dragon approached him and said, "Halvor, we're heading off to Stone Hill to train. You think you can handle babysitting the little ones?"

Halvor smiled cheerfully, "Sure, you can count on me. If a monster, besides you all, come here, I'll drive them off, pure and simple." The pink Peace Keeper stood beside the four little dragons he has to babysit: Yin, Yang, Christine, Chet, and Clubtail.

Spyro smiled, "Okay, tell the others we'll be back soon."

Halvor nodded, "Yes, sir! I mean, uh, yes, Spyro."

Spyro turned and walked down the hill, followedd closely by Cynder, Flame, and Ember. He led the way towards the portal to Stone Hill, all of them gathered in a large group to keep themselves from being easily attacked. Halvor and the little dragons looked on as Spyro and the others disappeared into the distance.

Halvor then turned to the little dragons who were standing beside him, "All right, everyone, let's head inside. We don't want to wander off, do we?" He ushered them back inside the temple and they all went inside.

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Near the Artisan Temple, a familiar Wild Hound emerged from behind the hills to find itself in a small clearing. The sun was shining from an angle, causing the tall trees to cast long shadows over much of the grass. Though the hound wasn't here for the scenery. No, the scent of her favorite prey filled the air.

"Smells like dragons..." Lustclaw muttered to herself, before sniffing along the line of bushes near the hills, she lifted her head when she caught a familiar scent of her favorite prey. Growling softly, she quietly bounded over to where the scent was coming from and eventually found herself in the clearing in front of the Artisan Temple. The Wild Hound looked up to the hill where the temple laid and stepped out in the open, sniffing the air. Lustclaw licked her chomps as she eagerly began making her way to the Artisan Temple...

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Halvor stood in the foyer in front of Yin, Yang, Christine, Chet, and Clubtail after saying goodbye to Spyro and the others. He smiled to them and said cheerfully, "Now then everyone, we're going to play a game." He turned around to get something out and pulled out a purple gemstone, "Who would like-"

The pink Peace Keeper turned around only to find himself looking at nothing. Halvor widened his eyes and looked around, realizing that Yin, Yang, Chet, Christine, and Clubtail were gone while their babysitter looked away.

"H-hey! Where did everyone go??" Halvor looked around wildly, darting around the room before exiting out of the room to find the little dragons who wandered off.

As soon as Halvor left the foyer, the door automatically opened up for someone as a cold shadow appeared and stretched itself inside by the sunlight. Lustclaw was standing in the temple's entrance after the door opened up for her, sniffing down at the floor, catching the scent of dragons strongly lingering about. Lifting her head, the Wild Hound faced the depths of the temple and was certain that dragons might be living inside.

An evil grin slowly crept on her muzzle, as Lustclaw started making her into the Artisan Temple, drawing closer to the scent of where her favorite prey was...

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Deep inside of the temple, Yin, Yang, Christine, Chet, and Clubtail scurried through the corridors after abandoning Halvor in the foyer. They giggled playfully as Yin gently tackled Chet to the floor and started fighting with each other on the other side of the hallway.

However, Lustclaw spotted three of the little dragons in the corridow and licked her chops before making her way towards them.

"W-WILD HOUND!!" Christine screamed, as she, Yin, and Clubtail quickly jumped at the sight of Lustclaw.

Clubtail gasped at the sight of Lustclaw, but then he rolled his eyes and instantly fainted on the floor.

"Not now!" Yin groaned, then she and Christine grabbed and trying to drag the unconscious Clubtail to a room.

Lustclaw smirked evilly and started to advance towards the three dragons, targeting them as the appetizers.

"Over here, ugwy!" a voice growled, as Lustclaw turned to her right to see Yang waving and shaking his tail in the air directly at her from the other side of the hallway with Chet.

Chet taunted, sticking out his tongue, "Nyah, nyah!"

Lustclaw turned and saw Yang and Chet, growling violently, as she changed direction to walk towards them.

Christine and Yin took this chance to quickly drag Clubtail towards safety. Yin muttered, seeing Lustclaw walking away from her, "It's wowking. She's heading the other way. Come on!"

Yang continued to insult Lustclaw, as he snarled, "You call yourself a cawnivore!"

"I've seen scawier dogs than you!" Chet added.

Lustclaw growled softly at the insults Yang and Chet were shouting, she looked back to Ami, Yin, and Christine and growled. Smirking, the Wild Hound noticed they were busy trying to help their friends which might give her a chance to get them. She looked back to Yang and Chet.

"I notice you say those insults from a distance, dragons!" The Wild Hound growled, before she started heading back in the direction where Clubtail, Yin, and Christine were.

Yang shouted, "Over here, you butt-sniffer!"

"It's no use, Yang." Chet moaned, seeing Lustclaw running back towards Christine, Ami, and Yin, "It's not wowking!"

Yang whispered, "Get weady to wun...fast!" He then quickly charged towards Lustclaw, and with a flap of his little wings, he managed to slam heavily into her side.

Lustclaw yelped in pain, flying sideways from the blow as she rolled across the floor, then landed on her feet before she glared at Yang with an angry snarl. Chet watched from the shadows, as Yang quickly ran away from the direction to Yin and the others with Lustclaw growling violently at his heels, leading the hound away into other side of the temple.

Yin and Christine quickly dragged Clubtail into a nearby room and scrambled inside the room with her before collapsing with exhaustion. Chet quickly joined them after he walked through the door before it closed shut.

"Where's Yang?" Yin asked Chet.

Chet replied, panting, "I dont...know! The hound...was chasing him wast time I saw him."

At that moment, they heard Yang's voice muffled a cry of pain outside the room. Yin, Chet and Christine looked at one another in shock.

"No!" Chet shouted.

Yin said urgently, "Christine, go take a wook!"

Christine stepped forward to the door, she stopped and quickly dived out of the way as she heard running heading towards the door. Suddenly, the door opened up as Yang jumped into the room and quickly closed the door tightly shut to prevent his pursuer from going in after him, joining the others before collapsing on the floor.

"Yang! You're okay! Oh, thank ancestors!" Yin sighed with great relief.

Christine asked, walking up to Yang, "We heawd you cwy out in pain. What happened?"

"That...hound scwatched my weg." Yang panted, glancing at the scratchmark on his leg, just as Clubtail regained consciousness from fainting.

Loud banging broke the reunion as Lustclaw was trying to break into the room by thrashing and slamming into the door, hoping it would give in. Yin, Yang, Christine, and Clubtail backed away from the door to the other side of the room they were in.

Yin moaned softly, "I hope that door will hold..."

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After what appears to have been fifty minutes, Lustclaw slowly stopped banging on the door to try and get to the little dragons and possibly have given up. Yin, Yang, Chet, Christine, and Clubtail were all silent and stared at the door.

"I think she's gone..." Christine whispered.

Yin suggested quietly, "Wet's check and see.." She and the others slowly approached the door and heard no growling from Lustclaw. The door automatically opened and the dragons expected to see the Wild Hound lunge for them, but didn't see her anywhere in sight.

Christine grinned, "See? I towd ya she might be gone."

The five, little dragons then wandered around nervously in the quiet halls, twitching with every step that scraped beneath his paws. Although they knew Halvor was around, but they were still fearful, mostly brought on by the waiting. Normally, Lustclaw would have been down upon the little dragons as soon as they'd left the room. Their train of thought was suddenly interrupted as they sensed something watching them.

Lustclaw smiled evilly, "Well, well, little dragons, you're out at last. I knew you couldn't stay in there forever."

Yin, Yang, Chet, Christine, and Clubtail gasped with dread and froze on the spot, as Lustclaw moved near.

Seeing the little dragons paralyze in fear, Lustclaw didn't waste any time waiting for her to recover and instantly charged towards her. Before getting to her though, a pink blur rammed into Lustclaw from the side, knocking the hound off her feet and into the air in a low arc. Within seconds, Lustclaw painfully sprawled on the floor and had scrambled back to her feet, swinging around to growl at the source of the attack, suddenly yelping in surprise as she saw it was known other than Halvor.

Lustclaw eyed Halvor, her look of surprise turned into one of eagerness. "Mmm...a plump one." She licked her chomps, "How delicious...Maybe I'll have you as the main course instead."

Halvor growled, baring his teeth as smoke drifted from his nose, "You won't be thinking of food for long."

With a roar, he lunged at Lustclaw with a mighty flap of his wings. The pink Peace Keeper tackled the Wild Hound away from Yin, causing both of them to roll backwards through the hallways in a tangle of tails and legs. Lustclaw stood in front of Halvor as the pink Peace Keeper stood in front of him. The two started circling each other, waiting for either one to strike first.

Fortunately for Halvor, Lustclaw perked up and turned to her left to see Spyro, Flame, Cynder, and Ember charging towards her altogether and quickly hurled themselves towards her, grabbing the nearest flesh they could their claws and teeth on the Wild Hound.

Yin, Yang, Christine, Chet, and Clubtail watched the fight from a safe distance, the shadows of Lustclaw and the male dragons mirroring the movements they make on the walls. They fought viciously and claws raked against scales and fur.

After a valiant struggle, it all seemed in vain for the carnivore.

Yelping in pain, Lustclaw was painfully slammed against the ground, motionless. She slowly stood up to her paws, growling softly, and looked at the dragons in fear of being singed to death or ripped to shreds by her prey. Knowing the incoming threat, she began backing away from the dragons to the entrance of the temple.

"You'll regret this, dragons. You'll regret this!" Lustclaw snarled, then turned and bounded away and out of the Artisan Temple.

Spyro and Flame followed Lustclaw to make sure she didn't come back for a second round of attack. They both saw her running down the hill and towards the open plains.

"And don't come back, dog breath!" Flame roared threatenly.

Ember walked up to Cynder and asked, panting from the fight, "Cynder...how did that Wild Hound get back on our trail?"

"Just stubborn, I guess..." Cynder replied, as she, Spyro, Flame, and Ember watched as Lustclaw ran through the rolling hills of Artisans until she finally disappeared from sight and into the far side of Artisans...

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"Stupid dragons..." Lustclaw muttered, walking through the far side of Artisans, "They'll regret this..." She wandered along her hunting ground, which contained little prey such as mice and frogs to satisfy her hunger. The Wild Hound hated the fact that was driven away by her prey, even scorned them.

Suddenly, the strange sensation of being watched by pure evil shivered through her bones. Lustclaw swung round to see a large Death Hound sitting at the other side of the clearing. It was Devilseer.

Lustclaw observed the Death Hound and growled softly, "And who are you, hound?"

"An ally." Devilseer snarled, pacing around Lustclaw, "And I noticed you have met the dragons who live here in this realm."

Lustclaw cautiously looked at Devilseer and replied, "Yes, I have, but they seemed to be smarter than the other animals that live here. They also prove that they're not easy prey..."

"Well, it looks like you and I shared the same experience." Devilseer growled gently.

Lustclaw perked up slightly, "What you mean?"

"I'm not from this realm." Devilseer answered, "I am part of an army made by my master of darkness. I found my way here and plan to kill those stupid lizards for my master that had escaped from us, but they were smarter. I was killed, but my master ressurected me to fulfill my deed and I still intend on destroying those dragons, _one by one..._"

"Mmm...Charming." Lustclaw grinned seductively, as she approached Devilseer, "You know what I think? I think that you and I should form some of kind of partnership. To eliminate those dragons and devour them _all_. I am called Lustclaw. You...?"

Devilseer chuckled slightly and grinned evilly, "You can call me, Devilseer..."


	15. Chapter 14: The War of Survival

**Author's Note: **Hey, everyone, I've decided to keep the story. The good news is that this is the last, longest, and final chapter of the story and I'll tell you the rest at the end of the chapter.

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**Chapter 14: The War of Survival**

It was a cloudy and dull day, the sky was threatening to drizzle with rain and fog as the low, faint rumbles of thunder echoed across the realm. Despite the fact it was going to shower, the young dragons of the Artisan Temple were running amok outside, enjoying themselves while some were keeping watch for anything suspicious. Grayson was currently playing tag with Coltrane while running around some of his friends to loose the young Magic Crafter. He ran away from Coltrane, but the young Magic Crafter caught up to the Peace Keeper and swiped him gently with his paw, sending Grayson sprawling on the ground.

Coltrane laughed, "Tag, you're it! He he!"

Grayson stood back up to his paws and quickly gave chase after Coltrane around the temple. Ami and Rikki were playing tag also, but suddenly the little Artisan stopped dead in her tracks as her eyes glazed over and she started trembling.

"Ami, what is it?" Rikki asked, approaching Ami.

Ami only shuddered, then she started moaning and trembling while her glazed eyes stared up into the sky. The other dragons gathered around her to see what she was seeing, as the little Artisan muttered cryptically, "The beastial evil roams again, a wandering shadow, his mind filled with revenge...He gathers an army beginning with one...the battle for survival and peace is not yet done..."

Grayson groaned, "Oh great, more trouble on the way..."

"What's this about a beastial evil, Ami?" Flame asked.

Ami replied worriedly, "Devilseer, he's building on army of canivores to kill us all. Every single one in Artisans. By tonight's moonrise!"

"Won't that monster ever give up??" Coltrane moaned aggravatingly.

Spyro looked at Flame and muttered, "It seems there's going to be a war. Tell everyone, including the Elders, we have to be ready..."

Rikki spoke out eagerly, "I'll bring some help! Maybe my friends can help us." The little Magic Crafter then scurried away down the hill and towards the marsh area of Artisans.

"And what kind of friends will she bring??" Grayson spoke out, arching an eyebrow.

Spyro replied, "I don't know, but I hope they're friendly."

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Every dragon was preparing for Devilseer's arrival with his army, rolling up boulders and digging ditches around the Artisan Temple as a barrier. Wooden spears were placed on the ground around the temple also to add the protection. Spyro and Flame walked through the preparations, looking at each other as they went by.

Flame said to Spyro, "We'll have a few surprise for Devilseer, if he turns up."

"And he will, according to Ami's vision." Spyro responded.

"Grove Worm! Grove Worm!" A Beast Maker dragon hollered in alarm, as some of the dragons looked down to see a large Grove Worm slithering towards them.

Spyro, Flame, and Ami ran to the edge to see the worm-like creature and was prepared to attack. But, to their suprise, the large Grove Worm spoke in a low, hissing voice, "I am Slimecraft. Rikki warned us about Death and Wild Hounds coming to attack, I've come to help."

"That's...good of you, Slimecraft." Spyro responded.

Flame spoke out, "Uh, not to be rude, but how's one Grove Worm suppose to do us any good?"

Slimecraft chuckled, "Ah ha ha, not just one of me."

Suddenly, a chorus of clicking and hissing pierced the air as Spyro, Flame, and Ami looked around to see slender and worm-like masses of Grove Worms all around them, gathering behind Slimecraft.

Ami gasped with surprise, "Look!" She, Spyro, and Flame were surprised at the army of Grove Worms slithering their way up the hill to assist the dragons against their enemies by the request of a little Magic Crafter...

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It was night-time, the Celestial Moons shed light onto the Artisan Temple as it provided illumination for the dragons to see. Everyone was prepared for the incoming attack of Devilseer and his army of carnivores. Most of the dragons were outside of the Artisan Temple; boulders and spears of wood stood and pointed dangerously around the temple for brief protection. Some of them were tired and were resting their eyes for a while the others kept watch. Spyro was among the dragons who were keeping watch outside, his eyes scanning sharply from the high view for any signs of Devilseer and his army.

Ignitus slowly stood by Spyro's side and glanced down to him. "Any trouble?"

"Not yet. But they'll be coming." Spyro replied without looking at Ignitus, his eyes still facing the hills.

Ignitus noticed Spyro's persistence and spoke calmly and firmly to him "Spyro, you must listen to me...do not let your anger control you. Otherwise, that anger will control you, corrupt you into a dragon that of cold blood and hate. We all miss Aiden, but revenge will only bring more ruin."

"...I understand, Ignitus." Spyro nodded with slight understanding, glancing slowly to the ground. The loss of Aiden slightly pained him.

Ignitus looked down at the purple dragon for a few more seconds before he started walking over to the other side of the hill to check on the dragons, leaving Spyro to resume keeping watch.

Meanwhile, near the bottom of the hill, Rikki walked over to a patch of grass on the hill and lifted a camouflaged lid to reveal the Grove Worm leader Slimecraft looking at the little Magic Crafter. She whispered to him, "Give us a bit of time. When I give the signal, or when you feel the hounds on top of you, do your stuff, Slimecraft."

Nodding, Slimecraft withdrew back into the hole and closed the grass-covered lid.

Rikki then quietly started making her way back to the Artisan Temple, scurrying up the hill as fast as she could. A dark shadow of a creature ran across the grass, following Rikki. As soon as Rikki ran to the other side of the hill, a fleeting form of a Wild Hound leapt from the shadows to where the little Magic Crafter went to, followed by a soft cry. A dark, clawed paw pinned Rikki's tail to the ground as she struggled and pulled desperately to escape. The little Magic Crafter then froze in terror, her eyes wide, when the Wild Hound hovered his sharp teeth down above her head, almost grinning evilly at the sight of Rikki struggling to escape.

"Little Crafter snack before dinner of dragons." The Wild Hound muttered, glaring down at Rikki as she squirmed to escape from becoming a meal passing through.

Fortunately, as Rikki struggled and whimpered, her soft cries were loud enough for Ruby to wake back up from dozing off. The little Dream Weaver looked over to the other side of the hil and instantly saw the Wild Hound upon Rikki.

"Hound! Hound!!" Ruby screamed aloud.

The dragons who were resting their eyes quickly snapped out their sleep by the alarm and looked around wildly to see what the commotion was about. They then saw the Wild Hound and growled furiously. As the Wild Hound opened his jaws wide, he started to lower his head to devour Rikki, unaware of the alarm.

Luckily, a voice shouted out from behind him, "You there!"

The Wild Hound looked back to the voice, as two Artisan dragons suddenly tackled the hound off Rikki and started attacking him on the other side of the hill in front of the temple.

Rikki was released from the jaws of death and quickly scurried away towards the temple. The other young dragons were all enraged and startled by the appearance of a Wild Hound near their home on the night of the battle, shouting and clamoring with shock and fury. The Wild Hound howled in pain as he and the two Artisan dragons, who were clinging onto him, swiftly sprawled away in a ball of legs and tails until they fell off the edge of the hill with the hound falling back first. They were followed closely by two, young Peace Keeper dragons to help finish off the dangerous carnivore, uttering growls of fury.

Cynder muttered, looking over to the fight, "Another hound tried to take one of us."

"It must've been the scout." Flame growled, "Devilseer and his army could be nearby." The red dragon then saw the two Artisan dragons and Peace Keeper dragons leaving the torn and ripped body of the Wild Hound scout, their snouts covered in blood.

High above the sky, above the lonely hills, Flarea was circling around in the night sky, observing the ground for any signs of the hounds. She gasped when she spotted masses of bodies making their way out of the hills and towards the wide clearing that contained the Artisan Temple. The young phoenix pumped her wings with a blazing flap and flew back to the temple, screeching loudly to the dragons, "Here they come! Hounds coming, hounds coming!"

Cynder ran up to Spyro after hearing Flarea and stood beside him. "This is it, Spyro." She breathed nervously.

"Yeah. Here they come." Spyro stiffened, jumping up to his paws as he saw numerous forms of creatures emerging from the shadows of the hills.

Devilseer, Lustclaw and hounds, that are all Death and Wild trailed behind them for the attack. They all had a bloodthirsty and ruthless look in their eyes as they all glared at the hill that held the Artisan Temple, licking their chomps as if they were going to kill and eat the dragons that reside there.

Flame shouted aloud, "Okay, everyone in position!!" The young dragons began going to their places of attack, behind boulders near the edge of the hill and around the temple.

Spyro responded, "All we have to hold the high ground against Devilseer's attack."

"Easier said than done, Spyro." Flame retorted, looking back to the approaching army.

At the foot of the hill, Devilseer stepped forward from the horde of hounds and stood on his hind legs, howling a sound to the night sky that could wake the dead from their slumber before he charged towards the Artisan Temple, followed by Lustclaw, and the horde of hounds.

Spyro called, "Boulder rollers, stand ready!"

Hearing their cue, Grayson, Halvor, and Bruce stood on their hind legs and began pushing boulders towards the edge of the hill.

"Now!" Spyro shouted, as the three dragons rolled the boulders down the hill and towards the approaching hounds.

As he charged furiously, Devilseer stopped dead in his tracks and yelped when he and the hounds noticed the boulders rolling their way towards them. The carnivores started to scatter away from the incoming danger, but fortunately, most of them were crushed messily under the weight of the large rocks and were instantly killed.

Devilseer roared, "Keep moving, destroy them!" He and the rest of the hounds resumed charging up the hill to get to the dragons. As the hounds charged up the hill, Slimecraft felt movement above him and suddenly emerged from his grass-covered lid, launching his head at a Death Hound and seizing the yelping carnviore with its sharp pincers before pulling it back inside the lid to feast.

The hounds were shocked and surprised at the sudden attack, but not before other Grove Worms emerged from the grass all around them, snatching and seizing any Wild or Death Hound that came near their hiding places before dragging back in. Some of the carnivores avoided the traps and continued their attack.

Spyro, Flame, Grayson, and the other dragons then backed away from the edge of the hill as they were prepared, burning steam drifting their mouths and nostrils, ready to blow out their flames. As soon as Devilseer and his army jumped up to the hill, Spyro and the dragons instantly charged towards the carnivores. Both waves of the two species collided heavily, quickly delivering everything they could muster against their enemies. Bursts of flames blew out from the dragons, searing the hounds where they stood.

Flame growled as three Wild Hounds jumped in front of him followed by another one that appeared behind him, easily outnumbering the red dragon.

Suddenly, Ember swiftly charged at the three hounds in front of Flame and knocked them altogether down the hill. The pink dragon smiled to Flame and the red dragon returned the smile to Ember, then turned unexpectedly delivered a swift kick into the hound's face who stood behind him.

Moira dove at Lustclaw from the air and sank her teeth into the hound's fury neck, but the Wild Hound simply shook the young Magic Crafter off. However, Moira lunged at Lustclaw again, this time she took a deep breath and gushed out flames at the hound's face, causing Lustclaw to yelp loudly in pain as she turned and ran away with the young Magic Crafter trailing behind her, still blowing flames.

Ruby gasped with fright and ducked to the ground in time to narrowly miss the swiping paw of a Death Hound who was standing beside her. The little Dream Weaver turned to her left and ducked again when a Wild Hound lunged for her only for the carnivore to slam itself into the Death Hound and knock the both of them away.

Forming a line of defense, the dragons, Bruce and Grayson prevented the massive horde of hounds from entering the temple where the helpless, little dragons were. Halvor was able to notice that out of all of them, Coltrane and Moira were battling the most fiercely; if it were not for them, the others would have certainly been overpowered.

Halvor and Ignitus both blew out a searing jet of flames at the hounds that were near them, they both swiped and swept away any carnivore that attempted to sink their teeth into their hides. One of the hounds leapt and sank its teeth into Ignitus' neck. Enraged at the carnivore's audacity, Ignitus heatedly grabbed the Wild Hound with his teeth, and with a powerful toss of his head, he flung the hound away, crashing the carnivore down onto the ground and rolling it off the edge of the hill.

A Wild Hound advanced towards Ami with a snarl. The little Artisan gasped and unwittingly thrust some dirt into the hound's eyes with her back feet, giving Coltrane an oppurtunity to swiftly knocked the Wild Hound away from the little Artisan with a swift charge attack.

A Death Hound was running away, yelping in pain with its tail in between its legs as Rikki and Ruby chased after it while blowing out searing flames and scorching the carnivore's rear.

Cynder leapt at a Death Hound and seized it by the neck with her beaked mouth, then managed to throw the carnivore painfully against a Wild Hound who was attacking Coltrane.

Spyro leapt at a Wild Hound and knocked it down to the ground, angrily slashing its throat open with his claws before moving on to attack another hound. His anger was suddenly fueled by the thought finally getting his revenge against the carnivore who killed his friend. A loud growl was heard, and the purple dragon stopped in his tracks to find himself dangerously surrounded by masses of Wild and Death Hounds, who all had a formidable, bloodthirsty, ruthlessness look in their eyes as they all snarled and roared at Spyro.

Spyro snarled back at the horde of hounds surrounding him. Suddenly, he stopped and stood calmly. The purple dragon closed his eyes and lifted himself a few feet off the ground, as fire appeared out of thin air and was drawn towards Spyro, swarming around him in a vicious flame storm. The hounds who were caught near Spyro were wincing in pain and were unable to move.

Fortunately, Flame and the other dragons noticed Spyro's growing power. He roared urgently, "Everyone, take cover NOW!!" Immediately, all of the young dragons abandoned their attacks on the hounds and quickly took cover behind any solid, rock structure they can find, leaving the carnivores confused by the sudden retreat.

Feeling his fiery power at full max, Spyro opened his eyes, and with a mighty flap of his wings, the flames around him expanded violently as rocks of magma erupted from the ground, swirling up in a circle formation until they collided and exploded tremendously around the purple dragon. The hounds were completely vaporized by the intensity of the heat, as waves of molten rock and flames seared and crashed against them and left no trace behind as they wiped out from existence.

Devilseer, Lustclaw, and the remaining hounds were at a distance and were shocked at Spyro's powerful flaming fury. After witnessing what they were dealing with, some of the carnviores took off running for their lives, and seeing that he was greatly outnumbered, Devilseer ran off also with Lustclaw.

Once the flames settled down, Spyro floated back onto the ground and snarled, glancing around at any hound he could find only to find none. He then caught sight of Devilseer and the other hounds running away and suddenly took after them, flames emitting from his body after using his fury attack and roaring angrily.

"Spyro!" Cynder cried out, emerging from the cover of the Artisan Temple.

Ignoring Cynder and fueled with raging fury, Spyro snarled and angrily charged after the fleeing Death Hound, bounding swiftly down the hill and towards the open plains.

Cynder attempted to follow Spyro, but she stopped at the edge of the hill and muttered worriedly, "Spyro..." The other dragons gathered to the edge of the hill in time to see Spyro disappear into the distance...

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"Where are you, Devilseer?! Come out!!" Spyro hollered, his body quivering with anger as he wandered around the hills away from the Artisan Temple. As his heart was still fueled by his vengance and anger, the purple dragon was intent on finding the murderer who killed Aiden and caused him trouble for the past eleven months of his new life in Artisan.

Suddenly, the grass rustled loudly and Spyro reacted quickly and broke into a sprint as the beastial forms of Death Hounds, including Devilseer, leapt from behind the hills and chased after him. The purple dragon scurried through the hills with the carnivores trailing behind him.

One of the Death Hound leapt high over Spyro and landed in front of him in an attempt to make him stop. However, the purple dragon simply thrusted his head underneath the hound and hurled the Death Hound away from him and onto another hound that was giving chase. As Spyro ran, he dodged the snapping jaws of the Death Hound who was running right beside him. The purple dragon then thought of a plan as he saw a large area of tall grass ahead. Soon enough, Spyro and the Death Hound both ran into the tall grass and disappeared into its depths.

Devilseer and two other Death Hounds slowed down their pursuit and stopped in front of the tall grass. The Death Hound leader smirked, "That little dragon won't be able to see anything coming in there."

Suddenly, a blood-curtling and dying yelp erupted from the tall grass, obviously from the Death Hound that chased Spyro. Devilseer and the other hounds perked up, then quickly jumped into the tall grass to find Spyro and their fallen companion, taking different directions.

One of the Death Hounds made his way through the tall grass, searching for Spyro as quietly as possible. A purple paw pressed down on the ground behind the carnviore, and upon hearing some movement, the Death Hound turned his head only to see Spyro leaping at it with a roar of fury...

The other Death Hound was lurking through the tall grass as well, looking for any signs of Spyro. As he turned to his left, the hound gasped when he saw the lifeless body of the other Death Hound lying motionlessly on the ground, its body singed and its throat ripped open.

The Death Hound then looked around nervously until the grass rustled loudly in front of him. Suddenly, Spyro leapt high above the tall grass over the Death Hound with a mighty flap of his wings before diving down towards the carnvore with his fangs and teeth bared. When he made contact with the hound, there was a loud howl of agony before it quickly died down.

Devilseer stood still in the tall grass as he heard his companion's dying howl, his yellow gleamed brightly, "That little dragon..."

A few moments later, Spyro emerged from the tall grass, panting with slight fatigue after killing off the hounds who were pursuing him. He found himself standing in front of a wide stream outside the tall grass area. The purple dragon looked back in time to see Devilseer charging swiftly towards him. The large Death Hound roared as he raised his right paw high in the air before slamming it against Spyro's head, pushing him against the cold water of the stream.

Devilseer growled to the surprised Spyro, "You were clever enough to kill the other hounds, but you are not clever enough to kill me. I was created by the Dark Master for the purpose of eliminating all of the dragons who had escaped Cynder's destruction, including you. I will have your head as my trophy!!" He launched his head towards Spyro, opening his razor-sharp fangs.

Spyro quickly rolled away from Devilseer's grip and ran towards the tall grass, but Devilseer leapt in front of the purple dragon and swiped him back. Before Spyro could get the chance to get up, the large Death Hound leapt in front of him again and swiftly struck the purple dragon across his face with his claws, sending him painfully splashing into the shallow part of the stream.

Devilseer advanced towards Spyro, his eyes glowing yellow as he stopped to observe the weak dragon.

Spyro staggered back to his paws and panted heavily as he stared at Devilseer, but then he noticed something. Devilseer had stopped at the bank of the stream and didn't walk into the water to attack Spyro, as he looked down to it. The purple dragon figured the Death Hound doesn't like the water and decided to use this an advantage.

Devilseer turned his attention back to Spyro. He gasped when he saw the purple dragon charging right at him, roaring with fury. As Spyro ran, he splashed water right into the Death Hound's eyes, blinding the carnivore momentarily for the purple dragon to swiftly tackle the hound as he struck past him. Spyro ran a few feet away from Devilseer, he turned and charged at the carnviore again, brutally ramming into the hound's side and sending Devilseer flying into the stream, struggling to rise up. Suddenly, Spyro charged at Devilseer again and rammed his head directly into the hound's left flank, still seeing the look of murder in the carnivore's eyes. The Death Hound yelped as he struggled to gain footing in the deep side of the stream.

Spyro completely submerged underwater while he was standing in the stream and swam up to Devilseer's leg beneath the surface, grabbing one of them with his mouth and pulled the struggling Death Hound underwater. Beneath the stream's surface, Spyro was floating near the bottom holding the hound's leg to keep him from getting air. Devilseer struggled desperately, he opened his mouth releasing a large amount of air to rise at the stream's surface.

However, the Death Hound managed to knock Spyro off, causing the purple dragon to accidentally allow the carnivore to emerge from the water, gasping for air, before he started swimming towards shore. Spyro also emerged from the stream and caught a breath of air, he saw Devilseer slowly walking to the bank, sputtering and choking out the water from his lungs. The Death Hound suddenly collapsed on his side in the shallow water, weak from the lack of oxygen.

Still furious, Spyro walked over to the weak Devilseer and pushed his front paws down on Devilseer's head, making the hound's face go underwater once again. The purple dragon beamed down a look of hate towards the struggling and dying Devilseer, his heart fumed with revenge for Aiden and for the hound's attempt to destroy the existence of dragons and his home. Slowly, Devilseer's struggling started to die down as he was losing air from being underwater for a while and eventually laid motionless.

Flame, Cynder, Ember, Ami, Rikki, Ruby, Halvor, Grayson, Coltrane, and Bruce emerged from the tall grass and saw Spyro drowing Devilseer in the stream.

Spyro glared venomously down at the dying Devilseer, but then a memory streamed through his mind, causing the purple dragon to snap out of his anger and rage.

_Spyro, you must listen to me...do not let your anger control you. Otherwise, that anger will control you, corrupt you into a dragon that of cold blood and hate. We all miss Aiden, but revenge will only bring more ruin._

Sighing heavily by the memories, Spyro finally regained his senses and stepped off of Devilseer, allowing the Death Hound to quickly ift his head from the water, coughing and gasping for air before he laid his head down. Spyro slowly pushed Devilseer towards the shore until the Death Hound laid on the bank of the stream, looking up at Spyro, almost shocked on why he saved a carnivore who had been causing pain and sorrow for the purple dragon.

Spyro took a few steps back, seeing Devilseer rising to his front paws as he coughed and panted for fresh air. The Death Hound slowly turned back to the purple dragon only to see him glaring at the carnivore as the other dragons watched in awe.

"_Get out._" Spyro growled with a severe, threatening voice.

Knowing the threat, Devilseer staggered up to four paws and suddenly ran off into the hills, away from Spyro, away from Flame and the others and away from the boundaries of the Artisan Temple. Spyro sighed, he then turned around and saw his friends approaching him, surprised at what just happened.

Flame groaned, "You had Devilseer right where you had him. Why'd you stop?!"

"Devilseer and his army would've killed us with given half the chance." Coltrane spoke out, "And not to mention, he might come back."

Spyro responded, nodding his head, "I know, but I have a feeling he would never come back. And we're not like him, _are we?_"

Ami stepped up and shook her head to the others, "No, we're not."

As soon as Spyro asked the question, the other dragons was silenced and they slowly nodded, knowing that they were not as ruthless and cold-hearted as Devilseer.

"Our battle has won, Spyro, we survived." Cynder smiled warmly.

Halvor responded, "Yeah, but some of us are going to need a lot of bandages. Oh! I think a hound bit me really hard on the tail that time."

"Oh, come now, Halvor." Bruce smirked, "It's just a little bitemark." He playfully reacted by sending a wave of water from the stream and narrowly soaking Ember and Halvor.

However, Halvor and Ember whooped a war cry as they both dove into the water, tackling Bruce as Coltrane, Cynder, and Ami joined in the fun, squealing and churning the water as they brawled and fought happily.

"By ancestors, you guys!" Flame snarled with annoyed exasperation, "You all are acting like little dragons! Get out of there! We should be heading back to the temple-"

Without warning, Spyro and Flame were engulfed with of water splashed towards them from all sides. His body drenched with water, Flame gave a menacing glare at Grayson and Bruce, he roared with a hot temper, "Grayson!! Bruce!!"

"Flame, can't you take a joke?" Bruce teased.

Grayson mocked, "You would think that all that water would've cooled off that temper of yours!"

Flame bellowed with mock frenzy, smirking, as he chased Bruce and Grayson, who leapt into the brook and started wadding away from the red dragon. Finally giving in to the enjoyment, Flame gave in to his need for games as he made a tremendous jump from the solid ground with the flap of his wings, soaring above the forms of Bruce and Grayson before crashing into the stream with a terrific shower of water, swallowing up Grayson, Bruce, and the neighboring bodies of Ember, Cynder, Spyro, Ami, Coltrane. Feeling the desire for some fun, all the dragons ganged up on Flame, Grayson, and Bruce who happily fought back with their own water attacks.

After chasing Rikki and Ruby, Halvor finally grabbed hold of both of them and now held them in a strong embrace. Both dragons were wrapped by a single forepaw and underneath a forearm, as the pink Peace Keeper stood on his hind legs and walked towards the stream.

"Halvor, let us go!" Rikki giggled.

Ruby squealed happily, "Halvor! Can't we have some fun?"

Halvor grinned as he tightened his grip around Rikki and Ruby, hugging them close to him. Without a word, he fell backwards into the stream, dragging Rikki and Ruby with him and submerging all three of them underneath the surface of the stream. Sputtering but laughing, Rikki and Ruby transpired, their heads poking out of the water as Havlor grabbed hold of them again, tickling them as he chuckled, "I'm not finished, yet, you two!"

With a cry, Havlor felt Spyro and Ami leap onto his back, playfully tackling the pink Peace Keeper, as the whole group continued to have their fun, their troubles and worries washing off into the cold water as the sun continued to rise from behind the horizon, the light calmly covering the band of friends...

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**Author's Note:** Thank you all for keeping me going for the past eight months for my first Spyro story, you guys encouraged me to keep going until the end. But don't worry! There **WILL BE A SEQUEL **to the Forgotten Realms, don't worry! After a rest of story writing, I'll be on working on it and posting up the chapters once or twice a month depending how busy I am.


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